


The Art of Being a Blossom

by Laurahollisinatardis



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Smut, choni, i dont know what else to put in these tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-05-09 10:27:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 59,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14714324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurahollisinatardis/pseuds/Laurahollisinatardis
Summary: What happens when Toni accidentally spills her coffee all over Cheryl's drawing? A giant feuding war between the two in the midst of first period art class, that's for sure. But when their teacher soon picks up on this, he assigns them together to complete an art project. Much to both Cheryl and Toni's distaste, they painfully oblige, hating every second of it. Until things take an interesting turn...Or: Cheryl is horrible at expressing her emotions while Toni is horrible at art.





	1. Spill It, Topaz

**Author's Note:**

> I love these two sm :'))))))))))))

Cheryl Blossom was pissed. No, that was an understatement. She was full on outraged. She felt the kind of anger that made her stomach knot and her muscles go stiff. The kind of frustration that locked her jaw and notched her eyebrows. The kind of absolute hatred that made her almost break one of her prized drawing pencils in half. 

Toni Topaz, one of the wretched Southside Scumbags, had accidentally spilled her coffee all over Cheryl’s current drawing. And again, Cheryl Blossom was beyond pissed.

“What the hell, Cha Cha?” Cheryl growled, snatching her sopping wet drawing from the table. Coffee ran down the page, splashing harshly onto the table they shared. It was first period art class, and Cheryl’s day, along with her new drawing of her cousin Polly’s twins, had already been ruined. 

“I’m sorry,” Toni stammered, surprised by her neighbor’s sudden outburst. She quickly ran to the paper towel dispenser, grabbing a fistful of sheets. When she returned, Toni realized that the ginger HBIC had disappeared, coffee still pooled on the table. 

Sighing, the pink haired girl swathed the area with a couple of paper towels, absorbing most of her sticky drink. As much as she found Cheryl annoying and overly self-conceited, she had to admit…she felt a little guilty for ruining her art. 

It wasn’t like Toni didn’t have a soul. It was just that every single day of this semester, Cheryl would constantly remind her of how trashy she was just because she had joined the Serpents. If only Cheryl wasn’t so narrow minded and prejudiced, Toni would consider opening up a tad more to the ginger. 

But, as everyone in the entire school knew, she was a giant narcissist. 

Besides, she didn’t know how the icy Vixen would react if she so casually told her that she was working her ass off, trying to provide for herself since her mother vanished and her father had turned to drugs. It was hard, living in a single trailer with Sweet Pea and Fangs. But they were stable for now. 

Toni wondered if Cheryl had ever felt anything other than cockiness. Probably not. 

Shaking her head and disposing of the wadded-up paper towels, Toni once again sat down at her spot, disappointed that she had lost most of her coffee. She sighed, tugging out her sketchbook when her teacher began his lecture. 

\--

Leaving a trail of coffee splotches, Cheryl furiously marched down the hallway towards the girl’s bathroom. How dare that sapphic son of a bitch ruin her art! 

Toni would never understand how much effort she put into each of her drawings. She wanted to capture the magical innocence of Juniper and Dagwood. It’d been so hard. So many eraser shavings and frustrating late nights poured into this piece. And for what? 

For a slithering serpent to knock her cup of coffee over like some mangy cat and ruin all of her hard work? Cheryl gritted her teeth and willed for the hot angry tears welling up under her eyes to stay put. She wasn’t going to let some trashy girl make her cry. 

Hoping that this was not an imbecilic idea, Cheryl cautiously draped her drawing over her palms and held it under the automatic hand dryer. A low hum blasted through the bathroom, warming her hands. 

The hot air only spread the coffee droplets, creating a slightly whimsical effect. 

No.

No, no, no, it wasn’t right. It was horrible. Ruined.

Frustrated, she crumpled the drawing into a tight ball, squeezing her fist as tightly as she could. Without another drop of remorse, Cheryl thrust the wad into the garbage can and stalked out of the bathroom. 

With her signature cherry red backpack snug against her shoulders, she stomped defiantly down the empty hall, an ever-present glare stuck to her face. How dare Toni Topaz ruin all of her hard work. Cheryl would get her back, though. She just didn’t know how yet. 

One thing was for sure at least. The ginger would not be returning to art class today. She wasn’t in the mood to receive half-hearted apologies. She wanted deep groveling, the pink haired girl kneeling at her feet, begging for forgiveness over ruining her masterpiece. 

But as low as Toni was, and that was close to rock bottom according to Cheryl, she doubted that the serpent would ever bow down to her apologetically. 

So, as she swept down the halls, Cheryl Blossom began brainstorming ways to get a so called “revenge” on the pink haired girl. Feeling a bit daring since she had already ditched her first class, Cheryl pushed her way out through the creaky doors of Riverdale High and into the courtyard. 

There was a slight breeze that tugged her towards one of the vacant picnic tables and she sat down in a huff. She fished a hand inside the pocket of her pants and whipped out her phone. A multitude of notifications perched on the lock screen and Cheryl smiled triumphantly.

As she sat, scrolling through Instagram, she began to wonder about the seemingly meaningless lives of those who had posted selfies, lame pictures of nature, unartful arrangements of their predigested meals, sloppy masquerades, cringey couple photos, and…

Cheryl stopped as soon as she saw it. 

It was a picture of her and Chuck from his most recent party on Friday night. God, what a mess she must have been. She remembered that right before she stepped foot into his house, she had had an overwhelming sense of numbness. This had probably derived from the fact that over these past few weeks, Cheryl was losing her edge.

Her and her edge…They were like…peanut butter and jelly. Or, no, that was stupid. Like…a bow and arrow. Separate, they were useless, but together they were unstoppable. Cheryl shook her head. That wasn’t the point right now. 

The point was that Chuck fucking Clayton had photoshopped a swirl of golden honey-like syrup down the length of her entire face. Yet another reason for the ginger to be pissed.

And it wasn’t like they had done anything scandalous either. Cheryl had felt that emptiness aching in her chest and longed for any means of affection and attention. From anyone. 

So, when Chuck fucking Clayton had stridden up to her, a red solo cup in each palm, she had been more than happy to pluck one from his welcoming hand. And when that one was finished, another. And another. And so on, until she could barely keep her head up, body stumbling and bopping around to every upbeat pop song that blared through his house. 

That is, until Chuck, just like a slobbering, lost puppy, returned to her once more. This time his hands were empty, so Cheryl did what any other loveless, deviant, miserable, depressed teenager who craved any ounce of attention would do.

She kissed him. Or no, wait. He kissed her? Well, whoever initiated what first, Cheryl hadn’t cared at the time. All she cared about was that he had adored her enough to come back. No one ever did. They simply couldn’t handle the intensity of _the_ Cheryl Blossom. 

But all she could _really_ remember from that Friday night was that one minute she was making out with Chuck, and the next she was waking up next to Veronica on the couch downstairs. So, she couldn’t have possibly slept with him…right?

Right?

Memories fuzzy and mind reeling with anger, confusion, and even humiliation, Cheryl decided to call the one person who might have known what really happened. Even if she did, on a rare occasion, give herself away to Chuck (ew), there was still the disgusting prospect that he had posted a picture of her drenched in faux syrup for the world to see. 

No, not the whole world. Chuck wasn’t _that_ popular. Just the _entire_ town of Riverdale. 

“ _Cheryl?_ ” A voice crackled through the other end of her phone. 

“Veronica,” Cheryl purred as if nothing was troubling her. She was very good at disguising the ever-present prickle of unauthenticity that resided in the pit of her stomach. 

“I was just calling to ask you about what happened Friday night at Chuck’s. Que je suis bête to forget. It’s just one moment there Chuck and I were, Frenching in the middle of the dance floor, and the next thing I realize, I’m on the couch and it’s morning?”

The other end of the phone was silent. Cheryl tapped her shoe to the leg of the picnic table, phone pressed harshly against her ear.

“ _I’m in the middle of algebra_ ,” Veronica whispered, a teacher’s voice droning on in the background. “ _Why don’t you come over after school and we can talk then?_ ”

Cheryl chewed her lip, a foreign feeling of fear bubbling in her stomach. If it had been something simple, Veronica could’ve simply whisper shouted it quickly over the phone. Now Cheryl wasn’t so sure that it was something casual, like passing out on the couch and her brunette pal joining her later. She swallowed thickly.

“Sure,” she answered in a synthetic chipper tone. When she hung up, Cheryl was left with a panicky flutter in her stomach. An alien like sensation of icy claws pried at her ribs, boxing her heart like a punching bag. Veronica had sounded strained on the phone, leading her to believe that something unforgettable had happened.

Suddenly her breathing became irregular and forced. She grabbed the edge of the picnic table to steady herself, head starting to buzz. Her clammy fingers began to tingle, a thin layer of sweat sheathing almost her entire frame. 

No.

Not here.

Not now.

From her sketch becoming a new secret item on the Starbucks menu, to not knowing what the hell went down between her and Chuck…she just couldn’t take it. She was surprised that her oncoming panic attack hadn’t squeezed any tears out of her like a sponge yet.

Oh. 

Oh, _there_ were the tears. 

Lots of them.

And the worst part of this whole ordeal, was the fact that here she was, Cheryl Blossom, Riverdale High’s resident It girl, having a panic attack outside of the school. And no one knew or cared for that matter. 

It was like the popularity label had been branded and brushed onto her entirely, shielding the girl behind it. She was invisible to the world. They didn’t truly care. They just pretended to so that she wouldn’t bring down her wrath of reign and terror upon them. 

Cheryl balled up her fists, tilting her chin up towards the hazy gray sky. Rogue tears splashed down her rosy cheeks. She swiped a manicured hand across each, hoping to erase the evidence of pain and frustration.

She wished Jason were here, sitting across from her on this ratty old picnic bench. But he wasn’t. No one was. 

And she just felt…

Alone. 

\--

Toni felt bad. No, scratch that. Toni felt like complete and utter shit. 

Not only was she probably at the top of Cheryl’s shit list right now, she was also at the top of her own for ruining her tablemate’s masterpiece. 

Toni was never good at art. Hell, she only took the class so that she’d get a fine arts credit. But Cheryl was different. She poured her soul into her pieces.

And Toni had spilled an espresso all over the ginger girl’s soul. Because yes, even though she was a ginger, and feared by most in the school, Toni was most definitely sure she had a soul. 

So, sitting there in first period art, her teacher spewing Paleolithic art facts, Toni found herself dreaming up ways to make it up to her classmate. It wasn’t like she was going to drop to her knees groveling up an apology to the girl. She’d never sink _that_ low. 

It was hard for the pink-haired serpent to think of any possible ideas that would make up for a ruined drawing. That was a big price to pay. It wasn’t like Toni could just up and make one of her own for Cheryl. No, she sucked at art too much.

Art aspects aside, Toni began running through a list of things mentally that might at least cheer the other girl up. But, come to think of it, Toni didn’t really know anything about Cheryl.

All she really knew was that Cheryl was HBIC, captain of the River Vixens, and could rock anything red. 

Wait a second. 

Red!

She drummed her sketching pencil against her sketchbook, tuning out her teacher completely. Okay, she had a teeny idea, but now she needed to decide how to incorporate the color into something bigger than an adjective. 

Toni wasn’t necessarily poor, but the thought of trading too many dollar bills to benefit the cause of Cheryl Blossom made her stomach queasy. She knew it shouldn’t; that Cheryl was a human being just like herself. It was just…Cheryl always made her feel like worthless garbage. 

So, it’d be one simple thing to clean Toni’s guilty conscious and then she’d never have to give back to the red head ever again. It’d be a kind gesture to show her sincerity in order to end on a sweeter note. 

Hold on…Speaking of sweets…

A tingly feeling blossomed within Toni as a small smile ghosted her lips. She knew exactly how to make it up to the ginger. 

\--

Cheryl adjusted the straps of her backpack as she nervously swayed outside of the Lodge’s residence. She’d just sent a text to Veronica, notifying the girl of her presence. Cheryl didn’t know whether she was anxious or anticipating what the brunette would spill to her. 

All she knew was that her heart and mind were racing a mile a minute, trying to keep up with one another. Veronica might just lay a truth bomb down that could potentially shatter the ginger’s career and ruin her life forever. 

Suddenly, the large doors of the Pembrooke creaked to life and Cheryl stiffened in surprise. She was met by a sad smile clinging to one of her only friend’s face. “Cheryl,” the brunette spoke softly, offering the other girl her hand.

Cheryl gratefully took it, thankful to have stability to hold onto. She felt as if she’d faint any second. All of this uneasiness and suspense was really draining her.

Veronica quietly led her up the stairs and into her room. Cheryl hadn’t been here in a while. Not since…after the Sweetwater incident. Veronica had left her in front of the fireplace, wrapped up in a blanket and sipping hot cocoa. It was a nice gesture, but in the moment, Cheryl would’ve gave nothing more than to have Veronica stay and at least sit with her.

But now, here she was, doing just that. Veronica perched on her bed and gently patted the open spot beside her. “So, you asked about Friday night.”

Unable to speak, for fear that she would lose control, the ginger simply nodded and took an awkward seat at the edge of the bed. She fiddled with a loose thread on the comforter as Veronica placed a sympathetic hand on Cheryl’s thigh.

“I was going to tell you, but I never got a chance.” Veronica took a deep breath while Cheryl sucked in as much air as she could, her lungs threatening to burst. She held the oxygen in as the brunette unraveled the truth.

“You were dancing with Chuck, and he just kept handing you drink after drink. After one drink, I thought you were just a lightweight. But then I noticed that with every drink, your moves just kept becoming sloppier and messier. And I thought, there is no way in hell that Cheryl Blossom is becoming a ragdoll after two drinks.

“And that’s when he kissed you. I wouldn’t even call it kissing because I don’t think you were doing it back, that’s how far gone you were. And the next thing I know, Chuck’s trying to drag you back the hall.” Cheryl deflates. Lets all the air out. She knows exactly where this is headed, and so does her stomach because it twists in an enormous pretzel knot.

“I should’ve stepped in earlier,” Veronica shook her head, eyes lowered. “But it’s a good thing I caught him before he could make his way into what I presumed to be the bedroom. Let’s just say that Chuck Clayton didn’t get a broken nose and a black eye from football practice.”

Cheryl gasped, her heart twisting and spiraling like a tightly coiled strand of DNA. Her hand flew to her mouth as did tears to her eyes as the realization struck her. “I stayed with you all night after that. Made sure no one else came around.”

And suddenly, Cheryl was doubled over, body swimming through waves and tremors of heart wrenching sobs.

Chuck had used her. He hadn’t cared, just like the rest of them. He’d manipulated her with drugs and tried to rape her. And then he’d posted that arrogant, stupid, horrible picture on his Instagram.

Thank god for Veronica.

The brunette hugged Cheryl closer, moving a kind palm up and down her back. “He’s such a piece of disgusting trash,” she muttered, scooting closer to the sobbing girl. “But you’ve got to remember that you’re not worthless, okay? You’re on the complete opposite side of that spectrum. You’re amazing, and loved, Cheryl.”

This only made her cry harder, fistfuls of Veronica’s robe caught between her sweaty fingers. “I know that you might feel alone right now, but someday I promise you’re going to find someone who’ll make you feel like you’re walking on sunshine. And whoever they are, they’re going to be so incredibly lucky.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Veronica got up to pluck a few tissues from her box for Cheryl. The ginger quickly took them and cleaned herself up as best she could. Wordlessly, she pulled her phone into view and tapped onto the Instagram app. As soon as it had loaded, she searched Chuck’s name and faced the phone towards Veronica.

The minute the brunette’s eyes focused on the image in front of her, a notch formed between her eyebrows and her mouth morphed into a tight thin line. “Chuck fucking Clayton,” she growled, taking the phone from the other girl.

“You’d think he’d learned his lesson,” she shook her head and handed the phone back. “I’m calling up Betty and we’re having a serious intervention with him. Full dark, no stars.”

Without a single drop of remorse left in her body, Cheryl nodded fervently, a look of pure hatred plastered on her face. “I’d go all Carrie White on his ass if I could.”

“I just can’t believe he thinks it’s okay to post that picture, just because I stopped him from doing something so horrifically atrocious. What a disgusting, pompous, inconsiderate, little asshole,” Veronica huffed, eyes blazing fire. She reached for her own phone and tapped a few times before throwing it down onto her bed.

“I reported the picture. And his obnoxiously repulsive account.”

Cheryl only sighed, leaning heavily into her friend. “Thank you, Veronica. For everything.”

“Always,” she replied sincerely, rubbing a soothing hand up and down Cheryl’s arm. They sat like that for a while, a comfortable silence twinkling around them, save for the small sniffles coming from the ginger.

 _It feels good_ , Cheryl thinks, _to have someone care_.

\--

As soon as Toni busted through her trailer door, grocery bags weighing down her arms, she’s yelling at Sweet Pea to get his lazy ass off the couch. “Come on, Sweets, you owe me a favor for watching Hot Dog the entire week Tall Boy was away. The least you could do is help me out with this one thing.”

“No,” Sweet Pea muttered casually, standing from the couch and stretching. “The least I could do is nothing. I could just go back to binge watching Pretty Little Liars on Netflix…”

“If you don’t help me with this, Sweet Pea, so help me, I swear I’ll spoil who A is,” Toni threatened menacingly. And just like that, as if a match were lit directly under his ass, Sweet Pea was flinging himself as fast as he could towards the kitchen. “NO, PLEASE DON’T SPOIL IT, I’M ONLY ON SEASON FOUR.”

“Then you’re in for some real disappointments,” Toni muttered to herself as she unpacked a multitude of ingredients from their makeshift plastic homes. Sweet Pea watched her curiously as he hoisted himself up onto the counter. “Whatcha making?”

“You mean what are _we_ making,” the pink-haired girl corrected, preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Sweet Pea rolled his eyes playfully. “Fine. What are _we_ making?”

“Cupcakes and ah-” she held up a hand as the serpent opened his mouth. “They aren’t for us. So don’t eat any.”

Pouting, Sweet Pea picked up a package of Domino sugar and tossed it back and forth in his hands. “What’s the point of making cupcakes if we don’t get to eat them?”

“The point,” Toni replied, mixing flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in a bowl, “is that it’s out of pure kindness.” Sweet Pea narrowed his eyes and glanced dubiously from the mixture to his roommate. “Alright, who is she?”

“Huh?” Her spoon dropped against the edge of the bowl emanating a loud clinking noise. Sweet Pea only grinned. “You heard me.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Toni hoped that the serpent wouldn’t be able to notice this slight blush that was steadily creeping up her cheeks. Instead, she stooped down, ducking her head and reaching a hand inside the opened cupboard. “Try me,” Sweet Pea challenged, swinging the toe of his sock in the direction of the oblivious serpent.

“Fine,” she huffed, depositing an ancient mixer on the counter with a loud bang. Dropping a plop of butter in and snatching the bag of sugar from her friend, Toni finally gave in. “Cheryl, and before you go asking me if this is some kind of romanticized gesture, which it is not,” she added, eyes throwing daggers his way. He only held his palms up in mock defense. “Let it be known that this is solely out of pity because I may or may not have spilled my coffee all over one of drawings.”

Sweet Pea smacked a hand over his mouth, eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. “You did not,” he gasped. Toni only shrugged. “It was a complete accident, but you’d think I’d had it all planned out to take her down. At least according to Fascist Barbie.”

“So walk me through it,” Sweet Pea marveled, plucking an egg from its carton. Toni set the beaters in motion, a soft whirring filling the silent void of the kitchen. She leaned her back against the counter and crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

“There we were, first period art class. And then I saw her. She was so stupidly beautiful. So gorgeous. A tall heroine for my early morning sleepiness. I wanted her so bad. No, I _needed_ her. So, I brought my lips close to her and-”

“Drank her sweet nectar?” Sweet Pea filled in, obviously amused. “We get it, Topaz, you’re in love with your tall, dark, and handsome coffee. I meant tell me about what happened with Cheryl.”

“Well, if you would’ve let me finish, what I was going to say was that I turned to grab a pencil from my bag and my elbow knocked my one true love over. Ugh, it was a disaster, Sweets. All my beautiful coffee…creating a lake of ironic bliss across her drawing.” Toni let her eyes glide over the length of the kitchen, pretending to be in deep remembrance.

“She was so pissed. And I would be too, honestly, if someone had fucked up my prized possession.”

“Like…if someone hit Yoshi, or damaged it, right?”

“Right,” Toni sighed, thinking of her beloved motorcycle. It wasn’t weird for her to assign a name to literally everything close to her. She’d been doing it for years. It made them that much more special. She even had a stuffed panda bear named Madelaine. She had always liked that name.

Sweet Pea cracked a couple of eggs into the mixer, Toni wordlessly assisting with spoonfuls of sour cream. “And…you’re making up for that with…cupcakes?” he said, after a moment. A dash of red food coloring was added to the mixture before the other serpent answered.

“I know,” she deflated, shoulders dropping. “It’s the only thing I could think of, being on such a strict budget. And we both know that I’m no artist, so I could never try to recreate whatever it was that she was drawing.”

She padded softly towards their old refrigerator, stealing the quart of milk from the top shelf. Sweet Pea hummed to himself as he measured out the proper amount of vanilla extract. “Hmm. What if you get her a new sketchbook or something? I’ll even pay for it if you let me have a cupcake.”

Toni shook her head forcefully. “No, Sweets, this was my dumbass mistake that pissed her off. That’s a good idea, but you seriously don’t have to pay for it.” Sweet Pea brushed the bangs out of his eyes and pushed himself off the counter. He shrugged his way in front of Toni, grabbing the mixer like it was made of gold.

“Fine, but listen, T, I’ll finish the cakes, you go get the sketchbook, okay?”

Toni chewed her lip, considering whether or not to go. Finally, with an exasperated sigh, she gave in. “Fine. But don’t you dare sneak a cupcake while I’m gone.”

“I won’t,” the serpent winked. As Toni left her trailer, the whirs of the beaters faint behind her, she wondered to herself, _What the hell am I doing?_


	2. Revenge is a Dish Best Served...with Coffee?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheryl proceeds with her revenge plans, but they take a different turn. Also, Toni is a raging, miserable mess...and Jughead makes an appearance unintentionally dressed as Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all of your kind comments and likes! Gahhhh I really do love writing this fic. These idiots really are gonna fall hard for each other.

Oh, how Cheryl did not want to go to art class today. With everything that had come crashing down yesterday, she was in no mood to deal with the likes of Toni Topaz. 

Although, she _did_ happen to have a slightly menacing revenge plan in mind. There was no doubt in her mind that she’d be able to pull it off. And oh, how this victory would taste sweet.

So, okay, maybe Cheryl _was_ looking forward to going to art class today. But only a little bit. Just long enough until the after effects of her plan wore off. Then maybe she could ask her teacher to assign her to a new art table-as far away from the sleazy serpent as she could possibly get. 

Toni always came in at least ten minutes late since she lived on the other side of the tracks. This gave Cheryl an insanely perfect advantage.

As soon as she arrived in the classroom, she wasted no time in gathering up her supplies. She made a grab for two sheets of sketch paper (since some no good Southside scum had drowned her sketchbook in a morning beverage), a plastic cup of water, another empty cup, and a rounded paint brush. Once her materials had been collected, she made a pit stop at the table of paints and squeezed a generous amount of brown, white, and red onto a Styrofoam plate.

Juggling the items was easy. She’d done it plenty of times before. Sometimes with even _more_ supplies looming in her cradled arms. 

Not wanting to look like she was wasting supplies (which she wasn’t, they were about to be used to their full effect), Cheryl dipped her brush into the paint and began to mark up a sheet of her drawing paper. 

She wasn’t sloppy like one might think. No, instead Cheryl pulled her paintbrush in an array of motions, cautiously cross hatching thin lines here and there. It was therapeutic really. She liked watching the brush leave snail like trails of gingerbread toned paint.

Cheryl had to admit, as much as she hated being in Thistlehouse right now, it sure did look good painted neatly across the paper. The edges of the painting were beginning to curl but the ginger couldn’t care less. It wasn’t like her mother would frame it let alone hang it on the fridge for houseguests to see.

In fact, come to think of it, Cheryl was sure that Penelope Blossom had never hung _any_ of her daughter’s artwork on the refrigerator. It used to tear her apart after she’d give her mother a drawing and she’d cast it aside somewhere as if it were just another fruitless junk mail letter. But now Cheryl was numbed to the feeling. She was used to her mother providing less than an ounce of care towards her. 

Maybe that was one of the reasons why she was who she was today. Striving for attention, and love, and care, and any means of affection from anyone or anything. She was pathetic. Oh, so pathetic. 

But right now, there was no way she’d let herself feel those prickling emotions. Not when she was about to set her revenge plan in motion. 

Phase One: 

She didn’t want to look suspicious. Two bright red cups drew too much attention to her. People brave enough to approach and question her might ask what kind of idiot needs _two_ cups. Cheryl didn’t need any unwanted negative attention. So, she placed the cup full of crystal clear water inside of the empty one. 

Phase Two:

It was time to make the decoy. Without a lick of concentration or unfathomable talent, Cheryl roughly zig zagged her paint brush against her second sheet of paper. She tried slightly, but only to make it look semi recognizable. When she finally placed her brush down, she smirked with the results. 

It was rough but easily understandable. One the sheet of paper, smudged in scratchy brown writing, were the words “Mr. Patrillo is a giant piece of”. Underneath the writing was a crudely drawn picture of a poop emoji. Minus the infamous creepy grin. And underneath the entire “masterpiece”, Cheryl had scrawled the name of her tablemate in the bottom right corner. Toni Topaz.

Except, she kind of fucked up since she was working so quickly, so it looked more like Tobi Topots. Eh, either way she was sure it would be undoubtedly recognized as the pink-haired girl’s name. 

Phase Three:

The delivery. Cheryl plucked the painting she’d just completed from the table, waving it around subtly in the air a bit, waiting for it to at least dry. She had approximately three minutes before the serpent would arrive to class. 

When it was as dry as it was going to get for the time being, she haughtily shot out of her chair, and sauntered over to her teacher, Mr. Patrillo. He was hunched over a massive stack of papers, glasses sliding to the end of his nose. 

“Sorry to bother you, Mr. P, but it seems that one of your students,” she purred, smacking the painting down on top of the paper he was currently grading. “left this here.”

Mr. Patrillo adjusted his glasses and gave a small snort when his eyes registered on the piece of art in front of him. “Toni Topaz made this, huh?” He was one of the older teachers, salt and pepper hair combed over with a gallon of hair gel. Maybe it made him feel youthful. 

“Wouldn’t doubt it,” Cheryl snickered, eyeing the piece again. Mr. Patrillo looked agitated. “I’ll have to have a word with her about this then,” he sighed, removing his dad-like glasses and squeezing the bridge of his nose. 

Satisfied and feeling smug, Cheryl nodded enthusiastically, spun on her heel and strolled back to her perch. 

Phase Four:

So Cheryl was sort of a genius. Not only had she devised and accomplished the first part of her plan, she also had a _second_ part. And this is the part that involved her scandalous second cup.

Flinging her paintbrush into her cup of water, she began to swirl it around vigorously-almost as if she were a witch brewing up a potion. A revenge potion. An oh so clever revenge potion. 

When the water had turned into a chocolate milk-like consistency, Cheryl finally snatched the brush from its container. Perfect. Now all she had to do was wait for-

“Toni Topaz,” Mr. Patrillo scowled, beckoning the girl who had just arrived with a flick of his finger. Startled, the disheveled serpent quickly ran to her table to deposit her books before timidly approaching the teacher’s desk. 

Cheryl could hear tiny snippets of their nonchalant bickering, Toni’s back to her. The ginger hoped that no one was watching because right now, she swore she wore the same expression the Grinch did right before he ruined Christmas. 

Phase Five:

Once again, double checking to make sure that no eyes were on her, Cheryl quickly seized Toni’s moderately warm travel mug. As fast as she could, she ducked both the coffee and the empty plastic cup under the table. Somewhere in front of her she swore she heard Mr. Patrillo threaten Toni with detention. 

Making sure the piping hot coffee didn’t spill or splatter onto her was a challenge for the books. It kind of felt like she was in one of those epically lame spy movies. Blossom…Cheryl Blossom. 

As soon as all the coffee had been moved to the plastic cup, which, ouch, it was starting to burn through to Cheryl’s palm, she swiftly dumped her paint water into the mug. She felt like she was a deviant little kid again, playing pranks on her mother with Jason. 

But those pranks usually ended horribly. Cheryl wasn’t sure why she and Jason continued to do them, time after time. She knew the end result would always be the same. She’d be left bruised and battered, but Jason would always be there for her. He’d always had her back.

Shaking off the recurring childhood traumas, Cheryl instead opted to strategically maneuver Toni’s travel mug back up beside her books. Once it was placed in the exact same spot as before, the ginger dropped the coffee filled cup into the now empty one. Perfect. 

A delicate white box sat on the opposite side of the serpent’s backpack. It piqued Cheryl’s interest, with its intricate textured swirls around the edges. 

But, before she could investigate further, Toni had shyly spun around, padding slowly back to her table. Her head was drooped, misery written over her face in a secret language only Cheryl could decode. She knew that look well. She saw it often in the mirror. 

_It’s what she deserves_ , Cheryl reminded herself, pushing down the nagging guilt that was starting to spring up. _She ruined my drawing like it was nothing more to her coffee than a napkin._

Cheryl kept Toni in her peripheral vision as the pink-haired girl sighed and reached for her coffee mug. The ginger stirred the forgotten paintbrush in the serpent’s coffee, now residing in her plastic cup, waiting for the chaos to ensue. 

And it sure did. 

Cheryl bit back a giggle (and yes, a giggle because Cheryl Blossom _did_ in fact giggle) as her tablemate slowly tilted the cup towards her lips. Oh, this was going to be good. So, so good.

And suddenly the shorter girl beside her was spewing paint water out of her mouth like she was Old Faithful, and their classroom had suddenly transformed into Yellowstone National Park. That, or she resembled a whale spraying air from its blowhole.

Either way, Cheryl couldn’t hold her laughter back anymore. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d laughed this hard. That wasn’t weird or sad was it?

Well, whatever, at least she could revel in the glory of watching her revenge plan unfold. And it was oh so sweet. 

Mission accomplished. 

Except, now that Cheryl had regained her composure, she realized with a jolt that Mr. Patrillo was staring at the pair of them with a fiery rage. “Ms. Blossom. Ms. Topaz. Hall. NOW.”

Cheryl had never gotten in trouble. No, she usually just played the “my life is horrible, and I had a traumatic childhood” card to snatch a sympathy pass from any faculty member who dared challenge her. 

But Mr. Patrillo looked like he wasn’t in the mood for handing out get out of jail free cards. His jaw was locked, eyes glittering black beetles beneath his wired glasses. “Either of you young ladies care to explain what’s going on?” 

Toni glared at her companion. “I’m pretty sure Cheryl Bombshell over here switched my coffee with her paint water.” 

“That would be a cruel thing for me to do,” Cheryl deflected, pursing her lips into a cold smile. Toni bristled as if Cheryl’s frozen smirk had somehow lowered the temperature around them. Mr. Patrillo, however, was the complete opposite. The ginger could see the unsubtle sweat stains beginning to form under his armpits. Gross. 

She glanced at her nails like she couldn’t even be bothered to listen. Maybe it was cool to look she wasn’t trying to. Like this didn’t affect her as much as it should. 

“You know, coming from you, I wouldn’t even doubt that,” Toni retorted, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Cheryl knew that move. It wasn’t an “I’m a tough bitch so quit talking shit about me” stance. It was an “I’m actually really hurt and trying to be brave” action. Whatever.

Stand how she wanted, Toni was still being a complete bitch to her. And for what? For Cheryl getting back at her? Yeah, the serpent totally deserved this. 

“Doubt what?” The ginger challenged, wishing to ignite the conversation into an explosion that would land Toni in deeper trouble than she already was. “That you’re so much of a narcissistic, spoiled little Prada girl, that you’d actually think I was out to get you.” Toni shook her head in disbelief. “The audacity you have is unbelievable.”

Cheryl only chuckled, tapping the toe of her ruby red heel onto the dirty hallway tiles. Did the janitor even clean? Or care? “I’m surprised you even know what Prada is, coming from someone who basically lives in a dumpster-”

“Enough. Both of you,” their teacher growled, drawing a sweaty paw down the length of his face. Toni was seething in her own private party of rage while Cheryl merely stood with a smug smile plastered to her face. He was quiet for a moment before a small sigh escaped from his lips. 

It was only then that Cheryl realized he had been counting backwards from ten to keep his cool. “Look,” he said, adjusting his arms so that they hid some of his sweat damage. It was so unsubtle that Cheryl actually cringed. “I won’t give you guys detention.”

Toni sighed gratefully beside her. Cheryl hadn’t really cared either way. Actually, she might’ve preferred detention over going back to Thistlehouse after school. 

“But,” Mr. Patrillo interrupted with a wave of his finger. Toni immediately stiffened. “I’m sick of seeing young people like you always disagreeing over things and fighting over the stupidest crap. The world’s already a horrible place. There’s no need to bring that into my classroom. Which is why, and I think this is going to be the best option here, I’m assigning you a partner art project.”

No. No, there was no way in _hell_ Cheryl would ever agree to working with this imbecilic, trashy, trailer park tramp. She’d rather shoot herself in the foot with her bow and arrow. And besides, she _knew_ the pink-haired girl was no artist. That wasn’t a secret. If they were forced to work together, Cheryl would probably end up doing most of the work. So, no, this was not happening.

“Think of it this way. It’s either a duo project participation, or a trip to the principals’, a phone call to your parents, detention for a month, _and_ community service around the school, because obviously, the janitor doesn’t take care of this place.” He ran his finger across the wall and revealed a smudge of dark dust. 

Before Cheryl could argue or fake her way out of it, Toni had already chimed in. “Fine. We’ll do it.”

It was as if the author of the universe had written a deep scowl over Cheryl’s face. She would much rather have preferred detention. Just, not the community service. Or the calling parents part. Well, parent in Cheryl’s case. And that was enough to make her a tad, just a _smidge_ grateful for Toni’s quick acceptance. She was still pissed that she didn’t get a say, however.

“Wise choice. Now, this project that I have in mind is very specifically targeted to help you guys get along better. Plus, it’s time consuming so you’ll have to be very patient with one another. I want the two of you to each create a portrait of the other. But I want you to make it unique and creative. Like using…I don’t know…say ketchup instead of paint.”

If it were even possible, Cheryl’s scowl deepened. Ketchup? As paint? What kind of old man drugs was this guy tripping on? And a portrait? Of Toni? She nearly gagged. 

“I’ll make it due by the end of the month. Do we have a deal?” He extended a palm to each girl. Toni quickly shook his hand, avoiding all eye contact with the ginger. Cheryl grimaced and rolled her eyes. She felt like a pouting kid who was told that vegetables are the organic and healthy versions of candy. This sucked. 

But, whatever. She would paint the Southside scum as fast as possible, which, with Cheryl’s talent, could be anywhere from 1 to 2 days, and then she’d never have to deal with her again. 

Simple. 

She finally seized his hand, shaking it just a tad too firmly. 

“Great! I’ll let you guys go early today if you want to head down to the library and see what kind of creative goodness you can find. Oh, and don’t forget! Due by the end of this month. 

Period.”

_Great_ , Cheryl thought, wiping the sweat from his hand onto her pressed blouse. _Just great._

\--

As soon as Toni stepped foot back into the art room, she marched to her table and grabbed the shimmering white box of cupcakes that she had baked. Such a stupid idea to try and make it up to the selfish maniacal ginger. Cheryl only really cared about herself and it was stupid for Toni to think she could aid her apology with baked goods. 

So that’s how an entire baker’s dozen of red velvet cupcakes ended up shoved in the art teacher’s mini trashcan. She would’ve dropped the sketchbook in as well, but she had paid way too much for it. 

She hated to admit it, but she’d scrounged up enough saved dollars from under her mattress to pick out the perfect sketchbook for the ginger. It was a hardcover, it’s front decorated in small imprinted flowers. Plus, it was so thick with quality paper, that it probably weighed more than Hot Dog. 

What was even more stupid, was that she’d even picked out glittery red wrapping paper and spent almost twenty minutes trying to wrap it neatly. Ugh, she was so mad. 

So, after her teacher had suggested going to the library to scrounge up artful ideas, Toni knew, just _knew_ , that Cheryl would be anywhere but. It wasn’t worth the effort to try to drag her to the library. Toni had a feeling that if she did, somebody would end up getting slapped or punched. 

And oh, how that conversation in the hallway had boiled her blood. How dare Cheryl talk to her like that? It was fucking 2018 and she was still slinging slurs like it was a century ago. Maybe all of the Blossoms were like that. She’d never met Penelope Blossom.

Maybe her mother was a saint and Cheryl was just trying to defy her. There had to be some underlying cause within this whole deviance that Cheryl showcased. Maybe life was tough at home after your brother and father died. Toni knew the feeling well. 

Even if Cheryl’s life was rough, that gave her no excuse to target “peasants” as she so called them. That was unfair. Another thing the serpent hated to admit? She was also curious to see what the driving factor was behind Cheryl’s so-called evil. 

Maybe if she knew what had caused it, she could understand why Cheryl put everyone beneath her and ground them into the dirt. But, for the time being, Toni was still hella pissed and deterred from engaging in any form of communication with the taller girl. 

No, instead she marched right past Mr. Patrillo’s desk, ignoring his ushering and ‘good luck’ praises, and out into the hallway. As she made her way towards the library, most of her anger had steamed away. Now she was left with the ginger’s words swimming laps in her head. 

_“I’m surprised you even know what Prada is, coming from someone who basically lives in a dumpster-”_

Toni glanced at the clock above the library entrance and yep, seemed like a good time to throw herself a pity party for one. She pushed through the heavy doors and stumbled into the cinnamon scented room. It was dimly lit, luminosity from lamps on tabletops and glowing computers the only sources of light. 

She plopped down at one of the many empty computers and logged into the system. As soon as Google popped up, she typed ‘unique portraits’ into the search engine. This gave her an array of image results that looked a bit too…complicated. 

So, she instead opted for changing her tactics and searched ‘portraits using weird materials’. There were a few that stood out to her. She especially favored the one of Michael Jackson made entirely out of candy. But, it was just…

How in the hell would she ever be able to pull this off? She clicked on a picture of Bette Davis made out of beans and sighed. There was no way that she’d be able to arrange a shit ton of food into Cheryl’s features. How did people even do that sort of thing?

Scrolling a little bit more, Toni was met with strange creations that eventually filtered out into images that didn’t match the results she pined for. This was hopeless. Utterly hopeless.  
As soon as she was about to give up and leave, someone slumped into the seat beside her. “Hey, Toni.”

Toni looked up in time to see the weirdest thing she’d seen all day. Even weirder than the menstrual blood painting of Donald Trump she had viewed earlier in her search results. Jughead Jones sat beside her, clad in his ever-present beanie. Except, he had a trash bag over his shoulder, white frosting smeared across his face, and a half-eaten cupcake in his hand. 

“You look like a creepy version of Santa Claus,” Toni joked. “You’ve got the whole aesthetic going.” Confused, Jughead looked down at himself and then realized she was referring to the sack of garbage over his shoulder. But then she motioned to her mouth and he immediately wiped his own on the back of his hand. 

“Thanks for saving me from any future embarrassment, Topaz. This is honestly,” he took a bite of the cake in his hands. “one of the besht”, another bite, “cupcakesh I’ve evaa had.” His words were muffled by the velvety goodness melting in his mouth. Toni smiled sadly as she recognized the color of the cupcake. 

“Did you get that out of the trash can in the art room?” she asked. Jughead nodded solemnly, brushing the crumbs from the corners of his lips. “Yeah, I’m stuck on trash duty after getting into a little argument with Reggie the other day.” He rolled his eyes dramatically. “I guess someone just threw a whole perfectly good box of them away.”

Toni didn’t know whether or not she wanted to disclose the information that she had been the one to make and throw them away. It gave her a weird prickle in her chest. Almost as if it were embarrassing to tell him the reason why she had made them in the first place. 

She knew he wouldn’t pry for _that_ information if she simply told him she’d baked them. But, she also knew that he’d try to piece everything together to figure it out on his own. Toni chewed her lip, hesitant to mention anything about the baked goods. 

“Anyway,” Jughead continued, licking his fingers. “I salvaged the box if you want one. I took the rest to Betty and the others in the student lounge. They’re just too good not to share.”

“I made them,” Toni blurted suddenly, worry dancing in her eyes. Jughead was silent for a moment before bursting into a grin. “Really? Toni, they were so good. Like, and I can’t believe I’m even saying this…they were even better than Pop’s burgers.”

Toni’s jaw dropped a bit, his genuine compliment warming the ice Cheryl had left within her soul. “Thanks. But you can’t give me all the credit. Sweet Pea helped a lot too.”

“I’ll make sure to thank him too when I see him then.” 

Another moment of silence passed before Jughead awkwardly shifted the shiny black bag on his back. _Here it comes_ , Toni thought. The inevitable questioning. Because what did Jughead do best? Get involved in everyone’s business. Not that that was always a bad thing. He was just a curious guy looking for answers and any means of inspiration for his writing. 

“So…why’d you throw them away?” Annnnd there it was. Should she just tell him everything? Try to earn a little pity from him? Sympathy? Rant about how much of a bitch Cheryl is?

The pink-haired girl let out a lengthy exhale, fiddling with her plaid skirt. She suddenly felt exposed and didn’t like it. “You have to promise to keep this between us.”  
Jughead’s expression suddenly shifted to concern and he nodded. “I promise.”

And that’s how Toni began telling him the story of the epic shitstorm that went down between her and Cheryl. And Jughead was living for it. Up until the part where Toni mentioned the ginger’s attitude toward the Serpents. And the trashed cupcakes. She left out the part about the sketchbook. 

“You can’t believe her, Toni, she’s never known what it’s been like to be in our shoes. Hell, she’s probably never known what it feels like to live in something simpler than a mansion. If she only knew how hard we work to provide for ourselves and each other.” He shook his head defiantly. “That really irks me that she thought you ruined her drawing on purpose. It doesn’t even make sense. I know that girl has some issues but...”

And suddenly there was that pit of emptiness in her stomach again. Like how talking about the ginger almost made it seem like she was physically here, calling Toni out yet again for being such Southside scum. She’d almost sort of believed her. Almost. 

“Anyway, I hope you figure out something super cool to do with your art portrait. I bet you could do something involving cake. You’re really good at that. Just anything that’ll top Cheryl’s art and teach her a lesson. And if you need any help with the project or _her_ , just let me know and I’ll wrangle up the Serpents for a little ‘intervention’.”

Toni threw him a half smile. “Sure thing. Thanks, Jones. I’ll have to look into that baking idea.”

Jughead stood, once again adjusting the garbage over his shoulder. “I was just about to head to the lounge to grab another cupcake, if you wanna come.” Toni shrugged, making a grab for her leather jacket. “Sure, why not.”

By the time they’d reached the student lounge, Toni realized that she really only had about ten minutes before her next class started. Hopefully Fangs or Sweet Pea would be in here, probably gorging on cupcakes and sinking into the plush sofas. If they got out of class early, this was always the first place they’d go. 

But when Toni strolled into the room, the first person who caught her eye was the person she least wanted to see. And that person had just plucked one of her red velvet cupcakes from the box that was stationed on the coffee table in the middle of the room. “J’adore these cute little cupcakes.”

Again, something tugged inside of Toni that only made her bristle. “You should,” Jughead said, coming up to stand beside the pink-haired girl. “Toni made them.”

As soon as the revelation had been made, Cheryl immediately put the cake back into its boxy home. “Can’t risk catching a disease,” Cheryl sniffed. Toni glared at her as she sauntered by. Oh, how she wanted to punch the little priss square in the jaw. 

She could see Betty and Veronica in the corner of the room glancing nervously at each other. Jughead put a hand on her shoulder as if to stabilize her rage. “Just remember that she’s bound to get a heaping dose of karma soon. Plus, if you punch her, which I know you want to, you’ll end up on trash duty like me. And let me tell you, it’s not fun. Unless you find boxes of cupcakes in the trash. Which I doubt will ever happen again.”

_Nope_ , Toni thought, still glowing hot with rage. _Never again will I ever do anything nice for Cheryl Blossom._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, comments are greatly appreciated! I really love reading all of your feedback! It inspires me to keep putting these dorks through all these different situations hahaha.
> 
> Twitter: @neptuneclarke


	3. Details are Berry Important

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are not so good at the Blossoms' house (abuse TW), Toni makes breakfast, and some weirdly offensive planning goes down in art class. Bonus: Sweet Pea and Toni's texts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omggg I just started my job working at an arcade, so I'm sorry if updates are a little slow. I PROMISE BIG THINGS ARE COMING NEXT CHAPTER THOUGH. THAT'S SOMETHING EXCITING TO LOOK FORWARD TO C;

Today was really going to suck in Cheryl’s opinion. She sat at the Blossoms’ breakfast nook, a bowl of Strawberry Frosted Mini-Wheats sitting in front of her. She’d bought the box herself without her mother’s knowledge. Ever since she was a child, her mother had refused to invest in sugary cereals.

At first Cheryl thought it was because she wanted to keep her kids healthy, but over the years, she began to fabricate her own conspiracy theory that her mother actually hated making her and Jason happy. Actually, come to think of it, maybe it wasn’t so much of a theory after all. 

But whatever. If Mumsy was going to act like Cheryl was nothing more to her than a festering disease, then so be it. Cheryl would play along, acting as if their bond was more than just the thinned and frayed thread it’d become from a once solid rope. Then, on her eighteenth birthday, she’d finally be free from her mother’s stone-cold grip.

But alas, that sweet, sweet birthday wasn’t for another year and a month. So, she still had to put on a sugarcoated act. Speaking of sugar…

Cheryl pushed another spoonful of the sugary cereal into her mouth, relishing the frosted strawberry bits. Out of all the cereal she’d snuck into Thistlehouse, this was by far her favorite. Cheryl was a sucker for anything strawberry flavored.

But, anyway, back to brooding about the whole ‘art project’ ordeal that was starting today. Cheryl had already planned it out in her head. That was another thing Cheryl was an expert on. Planning ahead. This way, she could get the most done in the least amount of time. 

She’d simply invite the serpent to her manor (because there was no way in hell that Cheryl was going to step foot into Toni’s presumably disgusting trailer), they’d each get their portion of the project done, and she’d happily get to kick the pink-haired girl from her doorstep. Hopefully. That last plan of action might be pushing it a little. Or kicking it in this case. 

Before she could conspire anymore against the serpent, however, she heard the unmistakable voice of her mother drawing nearer. Assuming she was on another “business call” as Cheryl liked to call them, she was in no rush to finish her breakfast. 

Her mother seemed to get a frequent amount of “business calls” these days. Cheryl found it absolutely horrific how her witch-like mother had magically transformed their house into a sexual playpen. She was also pretty sure one of her…clients…left his magic potion all over the couch the other night. 

Cheryl could just barely make out the conversation her mother was having over the phone. Whoever was on the other line seemed to be a golden comedian because Penelope Blossom was laughing like it was her job. 

The nosy ginger strained her ears, dying to hear a snippet of their actual conversation. And no, Cheryl wasn’t focused on _that_ part of their disgusting dialogue. She was instead hoping to catch her mother asking the man on the other line to come over later in the evening. This way, she’d be distracted while Cheryl and Toni worked. 

That was another thing. Penelope hated when Cheryl had rare guests or “friends” over. Cheryl guessed that was just another piece of the puzzle that fit into the ‘unhappy children’ conspiracy. 

And come to think of it, the ginger wasn’t even sure her mother’s previous client had actually left from the night before. And yet, there was Penelope, already on the phone with a stranger, making detailed plans like this was a casual coffee date. 

“…see you later, Hal.”

Cheryl nearly choked on a whole Mini Wheat as her ears finally picked up on the tail end of the conversation. Hal? As in Hal Cooper? What kind of nightmarish hell was she living in?

She was so surprised, she didn’t even register that Penelope had strolled into the kitchen, a hand on the back of her daughter’s chair. “And what the hell do you think you’re eating, Cheryl?” her mother hissed. 

Before she gave Cheryl a chance to answer, she had swiped the bowl of half eaten cereal and dumped it out into the trashcan. “You know there’s a zero-tolerance policy for sugary cereal. I won’t allow that disgusting, overstimulated junk in my house.”

The younger ginger clenched her jaw, spoon still firmly grasped in her fist. “While we’re on the topic of things we don’t allow in the house, mother,” Cheryl smarted coolly, words dripping with venom. “then I don’t think Hal Cooper should be included either. Or any of your “clients” for that matter. Wouldn’t want that disgusting, overstimulated junk under our roof.”

The empty cereal bowl clattered into the sink as Penelope rounded on her daughter. “Ignorant girl. You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Cheryl braced herself as her mother raised her hand in the air. She knew the impact never hurt as much as the sting in both her cheek and heart after. 

And she was always right. 

Except, there was a little more driving force behind this slap. Cheryl felt this one all the way down to her stomach, one of her mother’s ridiculous rings catching her cheek. She couldn’t even bring herself to muster up another haughty reply. All she wanted to do was get this stupid day over with. 

She gently touched the spot on her cheekbone that had been grazed by the ring and drew her fingers back. A crimson smear stared back at her and Cheryl felt her stomach twist. Tears instantly welled to her eyes, and not just because of the slap. 

“Go clean yourself up,” Penelope snapped, wringing the hand she had just used for her signature powerhouse move. “And I don’t want your snarky attitude tonight when my guest arrives. It’ll be best for you to just stay in your room where I know you won’t cause any trouble, seeing that you’ve been proving to me that you’re nothing more than a liability.”

A liability.

Maybe she was.

Cheryl blinked slowly, pushing herself away from the table. Her face was wet with fresh tears, but she didn’t feel like giving her mother the satisfaction of “cleaning them up”. She wordlessly moved toward her backpack and slung it over her shoulders. There was no goodbye kiss. No hugs. Not even a packed lunch with a note depicting her mother’s love for her. 

No, there was nothing. 

\--

On the other side of the tracks, in the Sunnyside Trailer Park, breakfast was running the exact opposite from the Blossoms’. Toni was stationed in front of the stove, quietly humming to herself as she flipped blueberry pancakes on the griddle. 

This morning’s jam, that had wedged itself into Toni’s mind on a loop, was ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’. Sweet Pea and Fangs had already sat down at the trailer’s small table. Facing opposite of where she was cooking, the boys chatted amongst themselves, the smell of burning batter thick in the air. They were both freshly showered and smelled faintly of Irish Spring body wash. 

“Hey, Toni, d’ya mind if I take Yoshi to school today? My bikes still in the shop and I’ve got a few errands to run after school. I’m sure Sweets can take you home after,” Fangs leaned back in his chair and threw his hands behind his head. Toni swiveled around as she flipped a perfectly round pancake onto a plate. 

“Yeah, I don’t mind. I don’t think I have any after school plans. Just,” she held up her spatula and pointed it in Fang’s direction. “Do _not_ make a scratch or dent on her, and do NOT get her dirty. Or I’ll kick your ass.”

Sweet Pea chuckled, throwing Fangs a warning look. “Dude, she will. No doubt. You better be careful.” Fangs only grinned, rolling his eyes in a playful manner. “Got it. You want me to be as rough as I can with Yoshi. Think I can manage.”

Sometimes, it was like having two brothers in the house with her. Actually, the serpent trio felt like more of a family than her previous one. Toni was more than thankful for the two idiots living with her. 

“If you do that,” Toni advised, her back to him. “I’ll never make you another blueberry pancake in your life.” Fangs let out an overly dramatic gasp as Sweet Pea snickered. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.” She snuck a look over her shoulder in time to catch the transition of faux shock on Fang’s face to that of humor. It was nice having these two goobers to keep her sane after the whole Cheryl Bombshell incident. 

As soon as she had gotten home last night, she’d spilled everything to them. Fangs had suggested giving her a good old-fashioned slap to the face. Sweet Pea had been a little less violent with his proposal. He’d suggested that Toni copy cat everything the ginger said. 

_“No, it’d be so funny. Do you know how pissed off she’d get? And you wouldn’t even be using anything against her, because they’d all be her words. Just imagine it.”_

It’d been a funny idea at the time and they’d all mocked the HBIC, Fangs even going as far as glossing his lips with Toni’s red lip gloss. But now that it was morning, Toni had to admit that she felt guilty making fun of the girl. 

But it was fair right? Cheryl had bashed her, and then she had bashed Cheryl. So, they were even. 

Toni wasn’t a bad person.

As the last pancake was perfectly dropped on top of the final stack, Toni switched off the stove and made her way cautiously to the table. Juggling three heaping plates of pancakes was a bit of a struggle, but at least she hadn’t spilled any of them like last time. Not that it had bothered Fangs or Sweet Pea. They ate them right off the floor as if nothing had happened. 

Toni did too. It wasn’t like the floor of the trailer was crawling with hideous insects or mutant cockroaches. Or even dirt for that matter. The trio kept the place quite clean. It wasn’t _sparkling_ per se, but it wasn’t a complete dump either. 

“And the Master Chef does it again,” Sweet Pea beamed, tucking hungrily into his stack. Fangs had already polished off his top layer. A smile stretched across Toni’s lips, gratitude filling her more than the cakes. “Thanks, Sweets.”

When there were three, gleaming empty plates left on the table (save for the depth defying puddles of maple syrup on each), Fangs was the first to push back his chair. “I’ll clean up the kitchen if you guys want to go. Just a little extra thank you for letting me borrow your bike, Topaz.”

“Once again, Fangs Fogarty, thank you for swooping in to clean up my mess,” Toni smirked, ruffling his hair. He only shook his head fondly, moving to clear the dishes from the table. 

Sweet Pea made a grab for his helmet and then tossed Toni hers. “Ready?” He asked, flinging his backpack over one shoulder. For a moment, she stood staring down at her helmet. Over the simplicity of breakfast, she’d forgotten about the art situation that went down yesterday and worrying about whatever was in store for her in today’s class. 

She wondered what kind of rude, snarky comments Cheryl would be making today. She’d probably mention something about how sleazy Toni looked in her black lace top. But whatever. It was Toni’s damn shirt, her _favorite_ damn shirt, and she’d wear it with or without the Blossom’s approval. 

“Toni?”

She hadn’t realized she’d been ogling her helmet for so long. “Oh, uh, yep. Ready.”

Sweet Pea narrowed his eyes slightly, pausing to see if she’d elaborate on her delayed response. But when she didn’t, he didn’t press for anymore information. He simply waved goodbye to Fangs and pushed through the screen door. 

Before Toni could follow suit, Fangs yelled her name from where he stood washing the dishes. “Give that girl a big ole slap for me today, will ya?”

Toni chewed her lips, bouncing the helmet back and forth in her hands. She felt the familiar tug inside of her chest but ignored it, nodding her head. “Yeah, I’ll try…”

\--

It was the first day this semester that Toni hadn’t been late for art class. So maybe this was a sign that it’d be a good day. Maybe. 

Just in case, however, she braced herself for whatever fresh hell awaited her on the other side of the classroom door. When she opened it, she wasn’t surprised to see the ginger bent over her sketchbook already, even though class didn’t begin for another ten minutes. That was Cheryl. Studious and artistic as ever. 

Toni took a seat beside her, eyes waning over the sketch paper Cheryl was currently scribbling on. The ginger’s hair formed a curtain of sorts, blocking the Serpent’s only viewing angle. When Cheryl’s head finally lifted, the drawing was not the first thing Toni noticed. 

She gasped inwardly, her gut twisting at the sight of the jagged scratch across Cheryl’s mottled scarlet cheek. The ginger quickly caught on, her eyebrows slanting in defense. “Stare much, Radiohead?”

So, the It girl liked classic rock and referenced Creep puns. Interesting. 

Toni ignored the building warning hidden behind her words. “Are you okay?” She knew it must hurt like hell. She’d been punched in the face by a Ghoulie with brass knuckles before, and he’d left a scratch like that too. That was one of the worst injuries she’d gotten as a Serpent. 

Cheryl stiffened and Toni wondered if she’d ever been asked that question before. “Of course I’m fine,” she snapped. “Thanks for the faux sympathy and all, but someone’s already beaten you to that position. So, you can get back to whatever travesty you’re about to create. Because I’m fine.”

So Cheryl was not fine. There was something obviously bothering her. But Toni wouldn’t pry. She wasn’t about to walk straight into the lion’s cage and try to drag it forcefully out. No, she’d wait, maybe even coax the lion to naturally come out. Just to make sure she was okay.

Sure, Cheryl had thrown discrimination at her, but maybe it was all an act of defense. Toni had played that card a few times. But now that she was older, and just a tad bit wiser, she’d learned to let her loved ones in. Bouncing and deflecting any sense of real emotions from herself was never the answer. 

So, for now, Toni opened up her sketchbook, flipped to a blank page, and patiently read the awaiting instructions her teacher had left for the class on the board. A substitute teacher sat in his chair, head already bowed in a deep nap. 

Today’s assignment was to practice drawing things from still life. Toni glanced around herself looking for any inspiring things to draw. All she really had with her was her signature travel mug. That’d just have to do. 

The first time she sketched it, it was way too big. The proportions were horrendous. Embarrassed, she quickly flipped to a new page. 

The second time the mug of coffee was drawn, it was so tiny and misshapen that it looked like a pathetic little cheerleading megaphone. Maybe it’d be like Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the third time would work out for her. 

Except, nope, it didn’t. She chewed the inside of her cheek. How did Cheryl make it look so easy? 

Now the ginger was currently drawing a strawberry even though there weren’t any in sight. Wasn’t that the whole point of this exercise? 

Feeling a tad braver than before, Toni decided to dip her foot in the water once more. Cheryl was obviously in pain, so she might as well try to lighten the mood. “That’s a _berry_ good drawing.” _Oh my god. Really, Topaz? Berry good? You’re an idiot._

“FYI, Cha Cha, strawberries aren’t actually berries, so that lame comment doesn’t really work as well as you think,” Cheryl snorted, her eyes darting to the Serpent’s sketchbook. She recoiled at the sight of it. “Karma’s a bitch.”

Toni clenched her toes inside of her combat boots. Just because she’d spilled coffee on Cheryl’s damn drawing a few days before, did not give the ginger any right to partake in such vicious teasing. If it even was teasing. 

The pink-haired girl stayed quiet, knowing damn well that if she opened her mouth to retort, she’d end up cussing the girl out and waking the sub. She was already on the teacher’s bad side so if the substitute left a bad note…

A loud sigh from beside her interrupted her raging thoughts. “Look,” Cheryl said, almost as if it were painful to do so. Toni wouldn’t doubt it with the giant claw mark down half the length of her cheek. “The dumpster you’re residing in might trigger my claustrophobia, and I want to get this project over with as soon as possible so…you can just come to my house after school.”

Now Toni _knew_ it wasn’t the scratch making it hard for the ginger to spit it out. It was the fact that they were on different levels of importance, according to Cheryl. Toni was just above rock bottom, while the Queen HBIC probably placed herself at the tippy top of the chart. And she probably didn’t want to tarnish that position with inviting the “Southside Scum” into her humble abode. 

Before Toni could question the authenticity of this “invite”, Cheryl was already continuing as if the Serpent had fallen to her knees and said yes. “Thistlehouse. Right after school. And don’t…wear that,” she gestured up and down at Toni’s outfit. “Also, I know you’ve probably never seen anything bigger than a double wide trailer, so try not to act too surprised when you arrive.”

Oh, she so badly wanted to cuss her out. Maybe she’d get the opportunity to do so off of school property. How sweet that would be.

And suddenly, the River Vixen had disappeared behind her fiery locks once again as if the conversation hadn’t happened. Toni eyed the substitute as she whipped out her phone. As she tapped into her messages she swore she felt a pair of eyes on her. 

**New Message to Sweets:**

**sooooo i might have just gotten an invitation from She Who Must Not Be Named to go over to her castle on top of the hill after school**

She hid her phone in her lap, knowing her friend would quickly respond. Not even a minute later, she felt a vibrating buzz tickle her leather bound legs. 

**Sweets:**

**OOF NO WAY KSJAJKDHDFH**  
**Its for the art project rite?**  
**I can take u after school**

She stifled a giggle as she read Sweet Pea’s reaction. Of course he’d be the one to get totally overexcited.

**Toni:**

**Yeah its for the art thing ughhhhhhhhh**  
**What if she tries to kill me Sweets ****  
**STOP what if she only invited me over to murder me**  
**She probably has a secret lair full of torture devices** **

********

“I don’t.”

Startled, Toni glanced up from her texting frenzy to see the ginger still sketching away. She definitely didn’t imagine that. Had…had Cheryl read her texts?

**Toni:**

**SHIT I THINK SHE JUST READ OUR TEXTS OVER MY SHOULDER ASLFHLSGK**

**Sweets:**

**OMFG DID SHE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THEM**

**Toni:**

**IM PRETTY SURE SHE SAID ‘I DON’T’ AFTER SHE READ THE TORTURE DEVICE TEXT** **NOW SHES GONNA WANNA KILL ME MOER**  
**IF I DIE BITCH TAKE CARE OF YOSHI**  
**AND MADELAINE**  
**AND DON’T FUCKING LET FANGS SET THE TRAILER ON FIRE**

 

**Sweets:**

**WIG THAT’S TOO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY I CANT TAKE CARE OF THREE BEASTS AT ONCE. TT DON’T DIE OUT THERE I DON’T THINK I COULD HANDLE THAT**

**Toni:**  
**BITCH IM SHAKING I THINK SHES READING THE MESSAGES AGAIN I STG CAN I JUST LIKE**  
**PUNCH HER**

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Cheryl glowered, dropping her pencil. Toni swallowed hard, her cheeks heating up from the embarrassment of being caught.

**Toni:  
YEP SHE DEF FUCKING READ THEM. IF IM NOT DEAD BY THE END OF THE SCHOOL DAY ILL MEET U OUT IN THE PARKING LOT**

This time, Toni pocketed her phone in her backpack, and pretended to look busy by sketching. Shit, she couldn’t believe she’d gotten caught. _Twice!_

“I’m sorry,” Toni whispered from the corner of her mouth. She was apologizing an awful lot to the other girl this week. 

Cheryl halfheartedly shrugged her right shoulder. “It’s whatever. I’m used to half the school looking at me like I’m some loveless, deviant spawn of Satan.” Toni felt her heart contract sympathetically at the girl’s words.

There was no doubt that she still wanted to punch the girl for what she’d said earlier. But it was just…Toni felt there was more to the story than Cheryl was letting on. It was like…reading an assigned work of literature for English class. You read it once and it barely makes any sense. But then you go back and overanalyze the living hell out of it, and you see the deeper meanings hiding in the words’ shadows.

“And for the record,” the taller girl emphasized, turning back to her strawberry drawing. “I didn’t invite you over to kill you. If you were worried about your precious Madelaine or whatever. I’m simply trying to get this horrific assignment over with.”

“How kind,” Toni stated flatly, a hint of amusement laced within her words. Ew. No. NO. No, this was not going to happen. She was not going to tip toe around the fact that Cheryl had bashed her and her friends so hard, just to make a new pal. Toni almost cringed at the thought of her and the ginger as besties. 

It was like Tom and Jerry becoming BFFs. Or Taylor Swift and Kanye West. And that was just fucking weird. 

Nope. She’d just complete the art project, maybe figure out and solve the mystery of Cheryl Blossom, and _then_ she’d send the bitch on her way. And they’d never have to utter another word to each other again. Unless Toni spilled her coffee on her art again. 

Which, she’d make sure would never happen. Because there was no way in hell she’d go through drinking paint water again and getting punished, just to “hang out” with Cheryl. 

So, when the bell rung, neither of the girls said goodbye or even acknowledged the other’s existence as they headed in opposite directions. 

And that was just the way Toni liked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you bunches for all of your love and support. IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME <3 comments are greatly appreciated! I hope all you Choni lovers have a wonderful day c: IT'S WHAT YOU DESERVE  
> twitter: neptuneclarke


	4. O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou, Romeo?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni comes over expecting to work on the art projects, but things take an intensely boiling turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ENJOY THIS LONG CHAPTER AND TYSM FOR ALL THE SUPPORT. BIG THINGS ARE BUILDING UP WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

As soon as Cheryl Blossom pushed her way into Thistle House manor after school, she could already hear her mother’s high-pitched laughter. It was so fake that even Kim Kardashian’s butt was more authentic in comparison. 

She tiptoed through the foyer, the unmistakably gruff voice of Hal Cooper floating toward her eardrums. Even though he was Betty’s father, Cheryl still thought of him as a lethargic, disgusting, sleazy man. And in all retrospect, he kind of reminded her of the mascot for Boar’s Head deli meats. Yeah, she could definitely see it. 

The sting from her earlier cut seemed to throb as she drew nearer to where her mother resided. Maybe it was like some sort of twisted hot or cold game. The closer she got to her mother, the hotter and more painful the cut would burn. Or, maybe Penelope was a secret demon sent to make Cheryl’s life a living hell. Okay, that theory was _way_ more believable than the first. 

All she had to do was simply slip up the stairs and she’d be home free. Just, two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve steps to freedom. Approximately three seconds to reach the top. 

“Cheryl.”

She froze on the fourth step. 

Penelope Blossom swiftly rounded the corner, her newest “client” following close behind like a slobbering hound dog. She hated the way his stupid little eyes squinted up at her. Alice was probably living her best life now that she’d dropped the dirty little swine. In case it was evidently clear, Cheryl Blossom despised the likes of Hal Cooper. 

And all of that loathing made Cheryl’s small heart grow three sizes that day. And then - the true meaning of hatred came through, and Cheryl found the strength of *ten* angry gingers, plus two!

“I expect you to stay up in your room for the rest of the day. After those comments you made this morning, I’ve decided to ground you until further notice. That means no company, not that’d you even get any; no supper, and definitely no screen time.” 

Penelope grabbed Cheryl’s wrist tightly and yanked her down a step or two. “And when we do have guests,” she snarled, pulling her daughter closer to her. “It’s customarily required that you greet them.”

The younger ginger could feel her mother’s ridiculously long manicured fingernails digging into the soft flesh of her arm. She swallowed thickly and made reluctant eye contact with Hal. “Mr. Cooper, so _very_ nice to see that you’re out making pleasantries with my mother of all people. Just so you know, you’re like the fifth person she’s called over. _This week_. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if you went home with something a little extra in your goodie bag. You might want to get yourself checked out after this.”

The pressure around Cheryl’s wrist was so tight that it felt like someone had pumped up a blood pressure cuff around it. She tried shaking her mother from her arm, but Penelope was insistent on leaving five deep fingernail marks and maybe a bit of bruising. Hal only looked on, his jaw set, beady little eyes watching the silent abuse unfold. 

“Say hi to Alice for me,” Cheryl finally smirked icily, wrenching from her mother’s grasp. She didn’t even turn around to witness Penelope’s reaction. And she didn’t dare look at her wrist until she was behind her closed door. Four crescent shaped marks dug into her reddening arm, staring up at her. Now not only did the gash on her cheek pulse with every stroke of her heart, but now her wrist did as well. 

A few shy tears trickled down her rosy cheeks as she slid down the back of her door. As soon as plopped onto the floor, spine snug against the door, she allowed her head to finally fall into her knees. They were one of the only things left that gave her support. 

Only one good thing had come out of her mother’s rage. In the heat of the moment, she’d been too bent out of shape to remember to snatch Cheryl’s phone from her. Thank god for that, because Cheryl couldn’t live without it. 

The people around Cheryl who pretended to know her would say that she was narcissistically addicted to her mobile device. Everyone always thought she was being cocky, rooting around Twitter for drama or posting a daily picture to Instagram. But really, she was only looking for someone to care. 

The flood of comments from Instagram gave her power, as did attacking people on Twitter. And she only really provoked them to get a reaction. It was just another way to engage with people in the only way she really knew how. By being the mean-spirited, fiery bitch that everyone thought she was. Might as well live up to those expectations, right?

As a shaky sigh ghosted her lips, Cheryl was quickly reminded that she _was_ actually expecting company today. She chewed her lip, cursing herself for not getting the Serpent’s number so that she’d be able to text and cancel. 

She could hear the distant rumble of a motorcycle and her heart leapt to her throat. Cheryl knew the Rowdy Rough rats all used motorcycles to cruise around in their despicable gang-like manner. She lifted her head, foreign nerves sparking throughout her body. What the hell was she supposed to do?

The roars of the motor bike were drawing closer. Cheryl promptly stood, blotting away any stray tears with the back of her sleeve. It was so stupid of her to continually get upset over her mother’s behavior. After all, _she_ was the one who’d provoked her. 

But this was no time for a pity party. Toni was almost here, Cheryl was grounded, and Hal and Penelope were probably reverse cowgirl-ing in the den. 

So, Cheryl did the only logical thing she could think of. She snatched up the emergency fire escape ladder, unlatched her window, pushed it open, and threw the safety device out. Oh, how she was dreading the future Rapunzel-esque nightmare she was about to live when Toni arrived.

But for now, she only hovered at the sill, eyes wandering over the multitude of pines and maples surrounding the estate. The wall of trees had always made her feel secluded and alone. Today, however, that feeling had magically disappeared. It was weird. 

Before Cheryl could think any more about the oddity that nature had on her, a certain someone had just pulled into the manor’s driveway. She swore she saw two bodies and stuck her head out the window for a better view. Yep, there were definitely two Serpents.

_Great_ , Cheryl thought, irritability once again coursing through her veins. She liked that it replaced the loneliness and sadness that had haunted her only minutes before. Toni had probably brought another sleazy snake as back up in case Cheryl had actually tried to kill her. 

And that was so stupid of Toni to text Sweet Piss, or whatever his name was, about in the first place. Cheryl was capable of many things, but murder? And how dare she even use her name and homicide together when she’d lost both her brother, Jason, and her father to Death. 

As the ginger continued to pick things apart in her mind, she began to conjure up more reasons to loathe the pink-haired freak. This had been one of the most horrible days of her life. And now, it was about to get a thousand times worse. 

Cheryl begrudgingly began to wave her hands in a big gesture, hoping to catch Toni’s eye. She thought about yelling down to the girl but decided she didn’t really have the energy. Plus, she hadn’t come up with another clever nickname for her yet. Not that she spent her time thinking of nicknames for Toni. Because she didn’t. Obviously. Ew.

But, Toni finally looked in her direction, and to Cheryl’s relief, whoever else had accompanied her was now fleeing the scene on their motorcycle. As the pink haired girl approached the siding of Thistle House, Cheryl swore she saw her chuckling to herself. That only inflamed her burning hatred for the mediocre trash bag of a girl. 

Below her, Toni had kneeled down on the grass, a hand thrown up in the air towards the ginger. “But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief.”

Cheryl looked down at the girl, confusion morphing her face into a twisted frown. “Is that a pale ginger joke? Because not all gingers glow in the dark, you know.” Toni smiled and shook her head. Standing, she brushed the grass from her leather pants and put a hand to her forehead to block the sun. “Romeo and Juliet,” she called up. “No pale ginger jokes here. Look up the meaning of the quote sometime.”

Cheryl only rolled her eyes and folded her arms defensively across her chest. Great, now she looked like an idiot too. That and an extremely ignorant, overly privileged narcissist. “Just climb the damn ladder,” she huffed, stalking away from her window. Her canopy bed looked oh so inviting, so she flopped down on it, relishing in the way her soft comforter bunched around her body. 

She stretched out her limbs, arm still tender, and felt the pull of her muscles beneath. It was nice to lay here, on top of her covers, sneaking a girl through her window. Cheryl sat up suddenly, her heart slamming against her ribcage. She was sneaking a girl in through her window. 

This was the totally deviant behavior her mother was talking about. This was wrong. So, so wrong. Yet here she was, the Juliet to Toni’s Romeo. Oh god, wait. No. No, it was the opposite. They were not two hopelessly in love teenagers. Cheryl nearly gagged at the thought. If they were anything like the two Shakespearean characters, she hoped it’d end in the same tragic way. This way, she wouldn’t have to worry about Chuck, or school, or her fake “friends”, or her mother, or her ever present loneliness…

Too dark. Time to stretch back out into the sun. 

But before she could fall back into the luxuriousness of her bed, Toni had slipped over the window sill, landing with a soft thump. “Gee, way to get to know me first. Already sneaking me up to your _bedroom_ of all places.”

Cheryl turned away from the other girl, cheeks glowing a molten red. She could probably fry an egg on them if she tried. “Full disclosure, my hideous mother grounded me for some ungodly reason, so I _had_ to have you come in this way.” When she turned back around, the Serpent’s expression had shifted. Cheryl could feel her eyes on the cut just below her cheekbone. 

She rubbed at it, half hoping that it’d magically disappear, the other half of her genuinely trying to conceal it. “Did she…do that to you?” Toni asked, too awkward to take a seat on the ginger’s bed. 

Cheryl felt like a soda bottle, fizzing with anger, shaken too hard. Almost as if she could explode at any given moment. And here was Toni, trying to unscrew the cap. She took a deep breath.

“Merely a curling iron incident,” Cheryl expertly deflected, smiling her infamous cold grin. “Because some of us actually _try_ to look nice.” She noticed that Toni had not changed her outfit from earlier. But whatever, that was the least of her concerns right now. 

Wanting to waste no time making useless chitchat with the girl, Cheryl rose from the canopy bed and made her way over to the walk-in closet. It was so spacious in there, that it could probably be considered a whole other room. Cheryl wondered if this was how big the size of Toni’s trailer was. 

At the back of her closet was an easel. It’d been Nana Rose’s, but she’d given up painting a while ago when her arthritis had kicked in. Now she simply lived down below, enjoying her Bob Ross painting programs. And that was _down below_ as in the room beneath Cheryl’s, not hell. Although it felt like that sometimes. 

The ginger made a grab for the easel, along with her bag of acrylics and oils. She hadn’t decided yet which medium she was going to use. There were the acrylics which would dry quicker, but they’d make the painting look chalky. And then there were oils which would take painstakingly long to dry, _but_ the finished product would be of higher saturation and quality. Decisions, decisions. 

When she made her way back into the main part of her bedroom, she noticed that the pink-haired girl had taken a stiff seat at the edge of her bed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Tramp minus the Lady? I don’t want any of your mites, ticks, or fleas infesting my bed.”

Toni shot her an odd look but stood anyway. “Don’t worry, Madame Freakazoid, I just got my pest vaccination. I can have the vet fax over my paperwork if you want.” She made a move to steady the ginger, who looked as if she were about to topple over with all of the supplies weighing her down. 

The bag of heavy paints had slid down the length of Cheryl’s arm, cutting directly into the spot where her mother’s nails had nested earlier. With that, the Serpent’s haughty comment, and the girl now reaching for her, Cheryl felt another breakdown coming on. As soon as Toni’s hand gently met Cheryl’s shoulder, she snapped.

“Get your sapphic Serpent hands _off_ my body!” 

And with that, Cheryl was swatting Toni away, the bag flying free and landing with a soft thud inches from Serpent’s combat boots. Toni stooped down to inspect the damage while Cheryl merely paced back into the closet to both grab a blank canvas and swipe away a runaway tear. She was already intensely frustrated with the shorter girl, and she hadn’t even been there for five minutes. 

When she strode back out, canvas tucked under her arm, she noticed that Toni had neatly placed the bag of paints on the ginger’s side table. “None of them busted. Just thought I’d let you know.”

Cheryl angrily threw the canvas into the slot on her easel and eyed the bag on the table. “Of course they didn’t. It’s like dropping a tube of toothpaste on the floor, not a grenade.”  
Toni raised her eyebrows, pursing her lips. She refused to meet the ginger’s eyes.

When Cheryl had taken a breath to cool down, she swiped the bag of paints, pulled out her wooden palette, and stalked over to her desk to grab the chair. She wordlessly dragged it across the carpet, stopping only when she was a few feet in front of her canvas. Thankfully, Toni wasn’t stupid enough not to understand, and she took a seat. 

Deciding that she was already over this little “get together”, Cheryl dumped out her acrylics and took a few minutes to squeeze an appropriate amount of each color onto her palette. She could feel the pink-haired girl’s gaze burning into her. It was almost as if Toni had heat vision and was firing lasers in her direction. 

“What?” Cheryl irritably prompted, pausing from her carefully coordinated color distribution. Toni tucked her fingers underneath the rim of the chair. “Aren’t you…going to use something a little more creative? That’s what Mr. Patrillo said, right? Like using ketchup or whatever.”

Cheryl snorted. “If you want to smear condiments all over a canvas, be my guest. But there’s no way in hell I’m degrading my art to the likes of _poor people_ paint.” Toni narrowed her eyes, moving her arms to cross them over her chest. “I’m getting really sick of you thinking you know my life, Cheryl. Because you don’t. You don’t know half the shit I have to do to support myself and my two best friends. So, I’d really appreciate it if you’d quit throwing me into the horribly stereotypical lower-class category that you’ve created.”

Besides her arrogant mother, this was the first time that anyone had _ever_ dared defend themselves against the likes of Cheryl Blossom. Part of her hated to admit it, but she was actually pretty impressed. No one ever went up against her. But now that Toni had gotten the ball rolling, she was _not_ going to be backing down from her high pedestal just yet.

“Don’t act like you know me either,” she shot back. “I _know_ you go around riding that high horse because you think that just because you’re in a gang, it means you’re _sooo_ tough. News flash, Cha Cha, your little snake club is about as threatening as Charlie Brown in his ghost costume on Halloween.”

Cheryl waited, urgently and silently willing the other girl to retaliate and try to roast her back. But Toni only sighed, letting her arms drop to the sides of the rolling chair. “Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you then,” the pink-haired girl said, finally raising her head to meet Cheryl’s eyes. “Because clearly, you’re in a lot of pain.”

She was right. Oh my god, Toni was so right. Not that she’d ever admit that. Before she could hurl another snarky comment back at the shorter girl, her phone began to excessively buzz on her bed. Cheryl grabbed her cell phone, turned away from the unwanted company and pressed the phone to her ear. It was Veronica. 

“Veronica! So nice of you to call, I was just-”

“Cheryl, you’ve got to get over to my house, now. As in _right_ now. Betty’s here with me and we’ve got Chuck handcuffed in the hot tub. I know that sounds weird, but I think he’s ready to apologize.”

And suddenly it was like someone had her in a chokehold. Her throat tightened, a lump blocking her steady flow of oxygen. She didn’t even know if she could will enough energy to surpass it in order to respond. Were her hands shaking? 

Cheryl tried swallowing the panic rising in her throat, bracing her body for whatever would come next. She could hear Veronica on the other end of the line, calling out to her. “I’ll be right over,” the ginger managed to whisper. 

Toni scuffed her foot across the carpet, concern painted over her face. “Everything okay?” she asked as soon as Cheryl had hung up. “Yes, not that it concerns you,” Cheryl responded in a faux chipper voice. It was just a tad bit too high-pitched. She prayed Toni was too stupid to notice. Because if the Serpent asked her another similar question, she was bound to burst into hot, pitiful tears. 

“You have to leave,” Cheryl said suddenly, scooping up as much art supplies as she could. Toni bit her lip. “Sweet Pea’s my ride and I told him not to pick me up for a while, so he went ahead and made his own plans…”

“So tell him to cancel said plans. I have somewhere that I need to be upon urgent request,” the ginger huffed, moving the easel to the corner of her room. Toni didn’t make any notion to leave. She kind of just awkwardly sat in the chair, scratching at a nonexistent itch on her forearm. “The thing is, is that he had to drive out of Riverdale for these plans. So even if I did call him, it’d be at least a half an hour before he’d get here.” 

Cheryl glared at her, not knowing which emotion had taken control at the moment. Currently panic, anger, depression, frustration, and confusion were battling for the Throne. She hoped anger would win out of all the contestants. That was the one she could easily twist to her advantage. And this way, it’d be like a mask to cover up the other, more revealing emotions. 

“Fine, but you’re not staying here. If Mumsy catches you, she’ll…” She trailed off, willing herself not to spill her life story to this complete stranger. “No, it’s okay. I’m sure I can just walk to Pop’s from here.” Toni stood, moving to pick up the emergency escape ladder. 

“Wait,” Cheryl didn’t know why her body suddenly decided to call out to the pink-haired girl. This was so painful for her to say. “You can…you can come if you want. Just don’t make a huge scene or deal out of things or anything. Also, again, try not to be so awestruck when we arrive at the Pembrooke. I know you’re still getting used to this whole ‘there are bigger, better places to live than where I do’ idea.”

“Wow, you really know how to show a girl a great time. I thought we agreed to drop this whole ‘high-class, oversaturated cliché’ attitude.” They stood there for a beat, anger bubbling in both of their chests. Cheryl wanted to scream out that it wasn’t truly her. It was the part of herself that she hated most. The defense mechanism in her body that shut down any logically emotional thoughts and feelings. 

Before she got the chance, however, Toni had already turned to open the window, throwing the ladder down with a soft sigh. And somehow, as the Serpent disappeared over the sill of the window, Cheryl felt the compulsory need to scream an apology at her. 

But she didn’t.

\--

So Toni’s day had been weird. Definitely one that’d make a good story later for Fangs and Sweet Pea. It seemed like most of the epically entertaining stories that she was telling them lately involved the ginger It girl. And now she was climbing out of said ginger It girl’s window, dangling a few feet above the Blossom’s lawn. 

There was something deeply troubling about the way the other girl had acted while on the phone with who she presumed to be Veronica Lodge. God, she was so defensive of every little thing. Cheryl must be broken all the way to the core. 

This revelation told Toni’s gut to go easy on the taller girl. She couldn’t even fathom would it would feel like to be Cheryl Blossom. She could take the defensive slurs thrown at her. She’d gotten those her whole life. But maintaining her anger and humanity to save the other girl from any more pain…that was something Toni was willing to participate in. Even if it meant looking “weak” as Cheryl put it. 

But for now, she simply jumped silently to the ground, looking up to see Cheryl flipping up over the edge. Toni smirked as she took in the view from below. Cheryl was currently sporting a pleated red mini skirt, tights nonexistent on the warm, breezy day. 

Feeling a bit bold from repelling down the side of the estate, Toni put her fingers to her mouth and let out a catcalling whistle. She swore she witnessed Cheryl’s face turn the exact same shade as her skirt. Hey, if she wasn’t going to actively partake in petty name calling, the least she could do was tease the girl to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, live it up down there, because this is probably the only time you’ll ever get a view like this.” Cheryl tugged on her skirt as Toni pointedly looked away. As soon as Cheryl was back down to Earth, she led the Serpent over to what Toni assumed to be the garage. 

After a quick punch of numbers to the automated security system, the door was pulled upward revealing an old red Ford Thunderbird convertible. Toni was impressed. 

“Don’t even think about leaving any of your trash in here,” Cheryl warned, popping open the driver’s side door. Toni took a seat in the passenger’s spot, grinning as she ran her fingers over the exterior of the convertible. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Bombshell. She’s so nice that I feel like I’m intruding on some sacred honor of being able to be along for a drive.” 

“Oh, don’t think you aren’t,” the ginger chided, plucking a pair of rounded red sunglasses from the dash. As soon as the vehicle had flared to life, Cheryl flipped on the radio, some explicit pop song filtering around them. 

Toni enjoyed the silence that accompanied the ride to Veronica’s. Well, it wasn’t _totally_ quiet. Some rapper was throwing some obscure rhymes. And cars zoomed by every now and then. But you get the point. 

And oh, how the wind felt amazing against her cheeks. Sure, when she rode her motorcycle, the wind had tugged relentlessly at her frame. But her helmet had blocked most of the exposure. And this…this was entirely different. 

It was like the wind had tangled its metaphorical fingers through her hair, dabbing the apples of her cheeks with the softest ghost of a kiss. It seemed to whisper in her ears, relaxing her entire body completely. Toni tilted her chin up towards the sun and closed her eyes. Too bad this was the only time she’d ever get to ride in the Thunderbird. 

And suddenly, the wind had stopped, the music cut out, and the engine mumbled into a quiet lull. When Toni opened her eyes, she realized they were stationed outside of the Lodge’s luxurious apartment building. She flicked her eyes over to Cheryl, who sat frozen, hands still on the keys in the ignition. 

“Do you want me to wait in the car?” Toni asked, glancing up at the massive building looming over them. Cheryl shook her head. “Nope. I don’t trust you to be alone with her.” And with that, it was if someone had pressed play as the taller girl hopped out of the Thunderbird. Toni rolled her eyes as she too made her way out of the car and up the stairs of the fancy apartment complex. 

Cheryl didn’t even hesitate or bother knocking. She simply pushed her way in, Toni trailing after her. As soon as the pink-haired girl saw the interior of the apartment, she was…well…shook. It made her want to work extra shifts at the Wyrm just so she could at least afford a fancy lamp or something. This. This was what she wanted to work her way up to. 

But she was not going to give Cheryl the satisfaction of being right about her awestricken surprise over the luxury pad. So, she didn’t stare for too long. Plus, looking around, it gave her a prickly feeling like she was invading the Lodge’s privacy. 

Soon Toni could hear muffled bickering as Cheryl led her down through the maze of hallways. The one they had taken branched off from the rest, leading down towards a set of foggy doors. As soon as the ginger forced them open, Toni was hit with a blast of humid air. 

“You like shaming people, Chuck? Do you like dehumanizing them? Prissy prude by day, freak in the sheets by night?” That was Betty’s voice.

As soon as the thick steam had cleared from Toni’s vision, she could see Betty, head engulfed by a dark, close cropped wig, hovering over the hot tub. Veronica stood nearby, phone angled at the bubbling water. And just who happened to be almost boiling alive?

“Chuck.”

Cheryl shouldered past Toni, a sheen of sweat already clinging to her forehead. As soon as he spotted her, Chuck began desperately wriggling around, pulling fiercely at his wrists that were locked in two metal rings. Toni could see that the handcuffs were digging at the delicate skin under his palms. She had no idea what she’d walked in on. 

Was this normal Northside behavior? To tether people in a giant bubbling brew, dress up in weirdly sexual cosplay, and torture them? Maybe Toni _should’ve_ waited in the car. 

“Cheryl, what the hell? Tell these freaks to let me go! I didn’t do anything.” He was so panicky. Like a little lobster thrown into a pot to cook. Toni already had zero sympathy for him. She knew Veronica just enough to know she wouldn’t boil a guy alive without reason. 

“Lies,” Cheryl spat, crouching down to his eye level. “You roofied me. You tried to rape me.” Toni felt something stir in her chest when the ginger spoke her last sentence. It was the way her voice had faltered. It was so soft, like she was trying hard not to shatter what little strength she had left. 

“That is _not_ what happened,” Chuck snapped, pulling against the cuffs once again. “Tell her, Veronica. She’s a fucking psycho. You all are.” Betty marched up to him, heels clicking against the paneled floor. “Please, if anyone in here’s a psycho, it’s you.” She rested her heel on the top of his head, applying a gentle pressure. “Time to squeal, pig. Tell the truth about what happened between you and Cheryl.”

Toni watched in astonishment as the bottom of Chuck’s chin disappeared beneath the bubbling current. “We made out,” he sputtered, lips next to go under. “And then?” Betty gritted her teeth, digging her heel in deeper. It was silent for a beat before he made up anymore excuses. 

“And then we danced! It’s not my fault she took things the wrong way. She was the one begging for it, pulling me off towards the bedroom. She’s such an attention whore, I’m surprised you guys haven’t ditched her yet.” 

Cheryl stood paralyzed, mouth agape in a silent scream. She looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Toni wanted to reach out to her, but some odd force kept her frozen in place. 

Veronica swooped in, phone clenched in her sweaty palm. “She didn’t do that, you ignorant ass. That was you. You roofied her and your inflated man ego is too high for you to admit that you’re sleazy garbage. You tried to rape my friend. So don’t think you’re going unpunished for this.” 

She nodded to Betty who flipped a switch near the facility’s thermometer. The bubbles in the tub began to pop at an alarming rate, steam pouring from the water like smoke from a fire. “Apologize,” Veronica growled. 

“I’m not going to apologize for something I didn’t do. Quit distorting the reality of this whole situation. Cheryl was desperate. I was there. If anything, _she_ took advantage of me. It’s not my fault she’s such a loveless slut that she practically had to jump me for any sense of real emotions.”

Maybe it was the humidity from the hot tub, but a giant ball of molten anger had suddenly lodged itself deep within Toni’s chest. It was like a balloon. And Chuck had just popped it. 

She crouched down and swung her fist as hard as she could, with such accurate precision and power, that it knocked Chuck’s jaw square to the left. Drops of blood flew into the pool, a smattering of crimson decorating his nose. He blinked up at her in surprise and pain. 

Toni shook her fist, clenching her teeth in the agonizing discomfort that ached through her fist. “Apologize to my friend here, _for almost raping her_ , or next time, I’ll knock a couple of your teeth out, pretty boy.”

“Fine, whatever. I’m sorry,” he mumbled, blood dribbling from his lips and thick beads of sweat clinging to his forehead. Toni stooped down beside him, a bloodied hand to her ear. “What was that? Couldn’t quite hear you.” 

“I said I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry about the Sticky Maple, I’m sorry I’m roofied you, and I’m sorry about the other stuff that almost happened. I-” Before he could finish, Betty had dunked his head under. Veronica closed the recording app on her phone and moved toward a frozen Cheryl. 

As soon as Chuck resurfaced, her coughed up a stream of hot tub water, chemicals, and blood. Betty dialed the heat down a tad, still staring daggers at him. He continued to struggle against his restraints, but no one batted an eye or moved to help him. 

Cheryl was crying. Toni didn’t know whether to stand where she was or move to comfort her. She tentatively took a few steps toward the ginger. “You okay?” She asked for what seemed like the third time that day. 

Cheryl glanced up at the Serpent, chin quivering as tears slopped up her makeup. She took a shaky breath. “Thanks,” she whispered, stumbling forward into Toni’s arms. Surprised, the pink-haired girl held her close, feeling the whisper of ginger hair against her arms. They stood like that for only a second, before Cheryl’s defensive attitude regenerated. 

She squirmed out of Toni’s grasp, brushing herself off. “Now, could you just…leave me alone?” Confused, Toni nodded, backing away from the taller girl. She didn’t say another word. But maybe that was because her heart was beating so furiously in her chest. And it wasn’t because it was hard to breathe in the humid pool room. 

No, it was something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DONT HATE ME FOR THE CLICKBAIT IN THE SUMMARY ASDFGHJKLLKJHGFD. Also, as always, I fucking LOVE your comments so don't be shy!   
> Twitter: neptuneclarke


	5. Saturdaze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs go grocery shopping...and of course there are shenanigans involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE TO GET MY WISDOM TEETH OUT TOMORROW SO I TRIED TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER QUICKLY SO I COULD POST IT BEFORE I GET ALL FUCKED UP. AHHHHHHHH I'M SORRY IF IT SUCKS AND THAT IT'S KINDA SHORT. I PROMISE BETTER CHAPTERS ARE COMING.

Thank god it was Saturday. Toni didn’t know if she could stand going another day seeing the redhead. So maybe she was starting to grow a little sympathy for the poor soul. And sure, there was that tiny, barely there, tug at the pit of her stomach when she saw Cheryl. But surely that was just a species of pity. In the genus sympathy. Which was in the family empathetic. 

Well, whatever. Toni had a whole two days off from the ginger’s snarky comebacks. And today was going to spent in the company of her fellow Serpent friends. Saturdays were grocery shopping days. 

They’d spent the whole week compiling and adding to their shopping list. Toni was on a mission to find piping bags, white frosting, colored candy melts, and cake mix. She figured that if it was for the art project, she might as well splurge and make it look the best to her ability. 

When Jughead had suggested utilizing cake for her art portrait, the first thing Toni had thought of was a giant model of Cheryl made out of cake. Alas, she was no Cake Boss, and the thought of sculpting Cheryl from sugar, spice, and everything nice kind of made Toni want to gag. That and how if she tried, it’d probably look like one of those Pinterest fails that middle-aged moms always shared to their Facebooks. It’s like they were still living in 2012.

So, anyway, that idea had been scrapped. Now Toni had her mind set on baking a cake, frosting it, and then drawing (or piping in this case) Cheryl’s face, in the middle of the dessert, with the different colored candy melts. It was so much easier said then done. Toni knew that. But was that going to stop her from trying? You bet your sweet ass it wasn’t. 

So, there they were. The three snake club (as Cheryl had put it) amigos in a store full of endless food possibilities. And yet, they’d been stuck in the same aisle for at least ten minutes. A myriad of different branded cereals looked down at them from their perches on the shelves. It was like this every damn Saturday.

“Guys,” Toni whined, leaning on the handle bar of the cart and rolling it forward a bit. “Would you just pick a damn cereal already? We go through this every week and we all know that it’ll go on until one of you picks-”

“Froot Loops,” Sweet Pea argued decidedly, tossing the colorful cereal into the cart. Fangs shrugged. “Froot Loops it is then.” He placed his Cookie Crisp back on the shelf, a bit more carefully than he needed to. When the two were out of eyesight, Toni rolled her eyes with a smile and knocked the wolf mascot cereal into the cart. 

When she rounded the corner, the first thing she saw was a lemon soaring into the air. “Toni, Toni, look!” Sweet Pea was currently juggling three lemons, Fangs joining in on the fun by tossing in one at a time. “Are you guys _trying_ to get us kicked out?” Toni grinned, eyeing a dark red delicious apple. 

She plucked the thicc fruit from its stand and casually tossed it over her shoulder to an oblivious Sweet Pea. Luckily, the doofus caught it, staggering a bit, but still managing to juggle the six pieces of fruit. “Come on, T, you know they’d never kick us out. They love the free entertainment.”

It was probably true. The trio was always up to goofy shenanigans whenever they took a grocery trip. Besides, if they _did_ get kicked out, it’d just be another addition to their list of incredibly wacky feats. 

Speaking of lists, Toni whipped out her shopping list, steadily pushing the cart down the bread aisle. They were coming up close to the baking section. Was it weird that she was anticipating getting there? Like almost as if buying the supplies locked her into this project. That she’d have to _really_ commit to this whole thing. 

Not that she had issues with commitment. She never did. Some people in her life did. But she didn’t. Wait why was she thinking about commitment. Toni felt her face heat up. 

“Hey, Toni,” Fangs beamed, strutting up to the pink-haired girl with two hands behind his back. He suddenly jerked his fists forward, shoving a bag of fluffy buns towards the Serpent’s chest. “Feel my buns. They’re extra squishy.”

“Mmm,” Toni hummed, throwing her head to the side in contemplation. She squeezed the plastic packaging around the buns, nodding deeply. “Firm, yet squishy. I approve. Toss ‘em in.” The sack of buns went soaring through the air and landed with a soft thud on top of a package of baby carrots. 

Toni glanced up from the cart just in time to see Sweet Pea staggering down the aisle, two melons held closely to the top of his chest. “Check out my melons,” he trilled, spinning in a circle and pausing to pose. He jiggled them a bit in his hands and waddled up to the pair. “Wanna feel them?” 

Toni giggled and reached a hand out to touch them. “They’re so cold…and hard. Not nearly as satisfying as touching Fangs’ buns.” Fangs waggled his eyebrows and proudly lifted up the buns to show Sweet Pea. The melons tumbled to the floor from the Serpent’s faux disappointment. “How dare you ruin my melon fun with your overly flaccid hamburger buns. Ha, I rhymed.”

“Oooh, look at Sweetie throwing out that freestyle,” Fangs jeered, starting to beatbox a random beat. Toni hunched over the cart, smiling as she took in the collaboration of her two stupidly amazing friends. 

“Uh,” Sweet Pea threw out, crouching low to the ground and flashing peace signs. He then stumbled forward a bit and reached out to grab the nearby shelf to balance. The melons rested at his feet, almost as if they were staring up at him with anticipation. 

“His name is Fangs but he’s nowhere near scary. The only time he’s frightening is when he’s had dairy.” Fangs made a grab for his stomach, miming a sickened expression. Toni watched as he kept the rhythm flowing. 

“Shopping at the grocery store, getting groceries. Gonna find all the stuff we need…with no worries. Antoinette Topaz gotta get some stuff for baking. Gonna make a portrait that’ll leave Cheryl quaking.” 

Toni stifled a laugh behind a press from her palm. This was way too good not to document. She pulled out her phone and hit the record button. 

“Three fellow snakes, out here buyin’ snacks. It’ll all be swell ‘til they add that sales tax. No, we ain’t swimming in money like Ms. Veronica Lodge…We out here havin’ some fun that you can never dislodge. Might as well throw Betty Cooper into the mix. She’s out lookin’ for answers while we’re out lookin’ for chics.”

Toni hoped that the freestyle legends hadn’t caught the color shift that had magically transformed the shade of her face. Sure, she was more into girls anyway, but recently, there had only been one particular girl on her mind. And not for those reasons. Definitely not. Nope. No way. 

“Chics, chics, we lookin’ for chics. It’s a no from me…if you involve dicks.” Fangs paused his beat and pointedly cleared his throat. Sweet Pea glanced at him, eyes widely apologetic. “Unless you’re Fangs, then you’ve got an advantage. Both boys and girls are what he can manage.”

Fangs nodded his head and winked at the other male Serpent, quickly returning to his beatboxing contribution. “Count Toni in too, she’ll find a great mate. Maybe there’s a certain It girl who she can date.” 

Oh my god. He did not. 

Heat surged through Toni’s chest as her face flushed even more. She shook her head, eyeing him evilly for exposing her. Wait, no! He couldn’t have exposed her for something that wasn’t true. Because it wasn’t. At all. 

“Don’t let the name fool you, no I ain’t sweet. Take that to Twitter OOMFs, with shady tweets. While we’re on the topic…wig, sus, snapped. Ya’ll are just pressed cuz ya boi just rapped.”

Fangs threw up his hand yelling, “Ohhhh,” a la Mordecai and Rigby style. Toni switched off her phone, clapping almost mechanically. Part of her knew that Sweet Pea was joking. The other part, however…No, whatever, it wasn’t important. 

What was important, though, was finding all of the baking supplies she needed for the arts and crafts she’d have to painstakingly do later. She rolled the cart forward, eyes scouring the shelves for the ingredients she needed. Her friends’ voices disappeared behind her as she made a grab for a box of yellow cake mix. 

She studied the piping bags and different tips dangling from their display on the shelf. Toni had no idea what she was doing…which tip she’d need for what. Yes, she’d baked cupcakes, and sure the occasional other dessert. But trying to “professionally” decorate a cake to look like Cheryl’s face? Was she out of her damn mind?

Most likely, she’d make a fool out of herself and create something that’d probably end up looking like someone had put Bella Thorne through a blender and smeared her on top of a cake. Not that Toni would _ever_ compare Cheryl to Bella Throne. Sure, both gingers could be a handful at times, but the River Vixen was nowhere near as bad as the ex-Disney star.

She picked up a bag of candy melts and flipped it over in her hands. It felt pretty hefty for a bag of sugary candies. She sucked in a shallow breath when she registered the price beneath it. For someone she couldn’t stand, Cheryl sure was sucking a ton of money out of her. 

As fast as she could, because maybe it’d make if a difference if she didn’t give herself enough time to talk herself out of it, Toni threw a bag of red, orange, yellow, pink, brown, black, and white melts; a tub of white frosting; a package of piping bags; and a box of petite tips into the basket of the cart. She could already feel the sickening pang of spending guilt bubbling in her chest. 

Her list stared up at her from its place where children sat fastened in the cart. Toni put her thumb to her lip and out of nervous habit, she chewed on her fingernail. Maybe she was being delusional. She’d made pretty great tips at the Wyrm this past month. So maybe everything would turn out okay and she wouldn’t waste all this time, money, and effort creating something horrendous. Maybe it’d be a masterpiece. Maybe she’d be the next Buddy Valastro. 

Still, she felt that stupid guilt gnawing at the inside of her stomach. Toni hated spending money. It was probably due to the fact that’d she been homeless at one point in her life, starved and begging for even a dime. She never wanted to go back to that. Wearing the same clothes for weeks, couch surfing with Serpent strangers, losing the only part of herself that had ever felt valid. 

She dipped a hand down into the cart and fished out the package of Oreos. Those were her favorites. Her relationship with them was very much similar to Simon’s love for the sweet cookies in _Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda_. Sadly, she placed milk’s favorite cookies back on the shelf. 

Toni took out a few other unnecessary, although they were totally her favorite, snacky items, dispersing them back throughout the store. Goodbye strawberry Pop-tarts. Goodbye cheese and sticks. Goodbye Scooby Doo fruit snacks. Goodbye Little Debbie Zebra Cakes. It was like some chubby kid’s fantasy storybook. _Goodbye, Health. Hello Diabetes._

As if they had magically appeared from a puff of black smoke, Sweet Pea and Fangs stood before her, each holding a paper plate of food. “Mini corn dog free samples,” Fangs smiled widely, passing a few of the warmly wrapped dogs to the pink-haired girl. She gladly took them as a distraction from all of the choices she just had to make. Plus, she’d never pass up the opportunity for free food. Her belly rumbled happily. 

Once they had regrouped and finished their greasy, tasty little snacks, the trio headed to the frozen food aisle. Toni and Sweet Pea browsed the frozen pizzas section while Fangs busied himself by drawing on the inside of the freezer doors. Most of them were mindless swirls, the frost on the door melting under the tips of his fingers. 

Sweet Pea dumped a meat lovers pizza into the cart, Toni slowly moving said cart down the aisle. She turned her head just in time to catch Fangs drawing the shape of a dick on one of the freezer doors. Classic dingus. 

“Quit exaggerating,” she chuckled, nodding toward the overly sized drawing that cut through the freezer fog. Fangs huffed and added a larger circle around the other shapes. He even drew a curved line that stretched beneath the drawing. “Get your mind out of the gutter. It’s clearly a picture of a smiling man. Look how happy this dude is.” The Serpent gestured to the portrait, Toni throwing him a look of disbelief over her shoulder. “Okay, Picasso, whatever you-oof!”

She hadn’t been paying attention to where she was directing the cart. And of course, because as luck would have it, out of everything to hit in this aisle, she’d have to hit the only other human besides Sweet Pea and Fangs. Her cart had collided with a stranger in a red coat, hood thrown up over their head. _What the hell was this, Pretty Little Liars?_

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Toni apologized. She abruptly scooched the cart back, its wheel making high pitched squeals in protest. The stranger in red hugged a box of Strawberry Toaster Strudels to their chest, motionless save for the sharp breaths they were taking. 

Toni’s heart nearly pulled a Kool-Aid man through her chest, however, when the stranger lifted their head. And suddenly, now the _Serpent_ was at a loss for words. 

\--

“Okay, Picasso, whatever you-oof!”

Cheryl felt the end of a cart ram into her side. As if she hadn’t been hurt enough this week. Mentally, emotionally, and physically. She squeezed her box of Strawberry Toaster Strudels close to herself, almost as if it were her anchor. She’d recognize that voice anywhere. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” the other girl replied apologetically. Cheryl could hear it in her voice that it was sincere. Had she known it was the ginger beforehand, would it have been as genuine? 

Ugh. Cheryl thought she’d have the entire weekend to brood alone and away from the mysterious Serpent chic. But, as fate would have it, and fate was just as much as a bitch as karma, here they were. Standing a few feet from each other. Toni completely oblivious to the reckoning under the red hood. 

And the only reason she had thrown on the aesthetically advantageous get up was because her mother was still on the prowl, looking for any slip ups in Cheryl’s behavior. It’d been a nightmare trying to sneak the Thunderbird back into the garage and climb up to her room again. It didn’t help that her entire forearm had swollen, limiting its usage on the way up to her window. 

But she’d made it up safely, murmurs of the disgusting pair below her lulling her into a sleepy, emotionally numbing nap. This was the only moment so far that her face had been clean of tears. And since her mother had so horrifically thrown out the rest of her cereal, Cheryl had snuck out once more. Defiantly, she was going to get another sugary, strawberry breakfast item. And these Toaster Strudels were by far one of her best pickings. 

Now she could feel the thrum of her heart through the wet cardboard packaging pressed up against her chest. She told herself that it was only thumping so hard because the cart bumping into her had startled her. Not that Toni was the one behind the handlebar. Because that was ridiculous. Ludicrous. Nonsensical. 

They hadn’t spoken since the day before when Toni had punched Chuck square in the face. It was weird. So _freaking_ weird that this complete stranger had just up and punched someone for saying stuff about Cheryl that was probably true. The Southside Scum had stood up for her. That thought alone made her stomach tingle. She couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad feeling. 

Probably bad. Only trouble came associated with the likes of the ratty Serpents. Cheryl knew that. So why was it so hard to convince that stupid small feeling to go away? She didn’t even know what it was. Probably some disease the girl had passed onto her. Ugh. 

That’s when Cheryl finally lifted her chin, locking gazes with the girl who had probably knocked another patchy bruise onto her already decorated skin. People seemed to think that her skin was tough and porcelain. Fragile, yet shimmering and gorgeous. Perfectly manicured and well kept. But it wasn’t. It was far from that. Her skin was soft and smooth, tattered, broken and bruised. 

There were scars laced across her body. Some visible. Some not. Jagged and short. Long and smooth. She was so vulnerable yet so held together. Each mark telling a story of its own. For now, she tried to ignore the sting in her cheek, the pounding in her wrist. No, instead she held a little tighter to her breakfast food, gaze never wavering from the pink-haired girl’s.

“It’s fine,” Cheryl said sharply, a hand darting up to push her hood back from her face. She could see the girl’s two other Serpent pals striding up to her from down the aisle. Great. 

“Sweet Piss. Teeth Boy. Dressed up in Saturday’s finest garb I see.” Cheryl kept her eyes boring into Toni’s as she spoke. “I guess you’re the ring leader in all of this, Cha Cha?”

“I guess I am. Somebody’s gotta keep these goofballs in check.” Toni blinked slowly and Cheryl _knew_ she was itching to look away. She kept her eyes trained on the gang member’s, sarcasm creeping into her voice as a defense mechanism. “I noticed all of the cake decorating supplies in your cart. Are you making a cake in celebration of getting above a D- on one of your exams? Or one of your mangy friends getting out of prison?”

Cheryl smirked when Toni’s gaze faltered. To her, it was just a game of cat and mouse. As long as she was the one on top, she wouldn’t get hurt. And right now, she couldn’t afford to get hurt anymore. If things kept building up and building up like last year…well…

“Actually,” Toni smarted, her fists tightening around the handle of the cart. “They’re supplies for the art portrait project. _Our_ art portrait project. Because some of us can conjure up creative ideas.”

For once in her life, Cheryl was at a loss for words. It was as if a role reversal had been conducted, cat and mouse switching bodies. As ironic as it was, that cat had gotten Cheryl’s tongue. Her mouth twitched, yearning to spew out another blazing response. But something in Toni’s face softened after a beat and all Cheryl managed to blurt out was, “Sorry.”

Cheryl never apologized. Was she out of her damn mind? Or no, maybe Toni was some kind of alien who was brainwashing her. It sure felt like that. 

It was like a game of tennis. Back and forth with the snarky comments and then back and forth with the silences. Sweet Piss and Teeth Boy were on the sidelines, heads snapping this way and that, watching the slurs fly back and forth like a tennis ball. 

And then the weirdest thing happened. The girl standing across from her fished a hand into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen. Cheryl watched as Toni forced the slip vertically against the freezer door, scrawling some random arrangement of various numbers onto it. And suddenly the paper was being pressed into Cheryl’s palm, Toni’s fingers softly brushing the tips of the ginger’s. Oh my god, did she just shiver? Shit, did Toni notice?

“My number, so that we can get this damn project over with as soon as possible.” 

Cheryl swallowed thickly. She’d never been given someone else’s number before. She simply went around handing her own out like business cards to those who she deemed worthy enough. But this? This was surprising. And Cheryl had had enough surprises for one day. “Practical. I’ll text you when I have the time. But don’t think that this’ll suffice into a mediocre friendship. Because it won’t.”

Toni shrugged her shoulder. “Fine by me.” She lowered her gaze and thrummed her fingers over the cart’s handle. Cheryl took that as a cue to step out of the way. By now, her box of Toaster Strudels could be considered fully cooked by how much heat her body was giving off around it. Toni’s number was pinched in between her pinky and ring finger. 

The Serpent and her little entourage of snakes whizzed past Cheryl, leaving her alone in the frozen foods aisle. She swore she could hear Sweet Piss already using her name, words fading as they moved farther away. Something about their little encounter made that stupid prickly feeling in her chest burn a little stronger. 

And at the same time, she wanted to shred that stupid piece of paper into a million tiny pieces and scatter it all over the grocery store floor. But that’s when, upon looking down at the floor, she noticed that there was a slip of paper at her feet. Cheryl stooped down low and picked it up. She read the bigger title that hovered over the list beneath it. 

**Shopping List**

Cheryl snorted. A shopping list? How old was Toni? A grandma? But something about the way the p’s were looped and the letters were swirled filled Cheryl with a strange sensation. Perhaps it was fascination. She’d always enjoyed those effortlessly flawless calligraphy videos on Instagram. Well, whatever this feeling was, it was situated right behind her ribcage, bubbly and simmering. 

And she had to admit, it was a nice feeling. It was like being given a long, soft, warm hug. She ran her thumb over the creases ironed into the paper, her eyes skittering down the list. Most of it had been crossed off, save for a few items at the bottom. They’d been circled and marked “next time” in the margin. 

Maybe it was guilt from all of the nasty things she’d said or something else…that she definitely did not have a word for yet…that drove her to hunt down those specific leftovers from the list. And soon enough, she was carrying an armful of groceries to the register, depositing them onto the conveyor belt.

Toni and her Scooby gang were nowhere in sight. They must’ve left already. Still anxious of being recognized by her mother or an associate of hers, Cheryl flipped her hood back over her head. 

The man behind the register stopped for a beat and looked at her with droopy eyes. Cheryl’s heart hammered out of fear that she’d be identified as the girl who snuck away from home. Like this older man would know everything about her. How she was grounded and not supposed to be out anywhere except for school. Like he had Penelope’s number saved in his flip phone, ready to dial at an instant to turn Cheryl in like a wanted criminal. 

But he simply reached for the next item, turning his attention back to the scanner. Cheryl let out a shaky breath of relief, exchanging her cash on hand for the bags of snacks. He thanked her and told her to have a good day. She told him not to tell her what to do. But really, she only liked doing that because it reminded her of her favorite Drake and Josh episode. That was the one with the tree house. And right now, she could really use one as a place to “cry in private”.

When she stepped out through the automatic doors, she could hear the distant rumble of motorcycles. Her grip tightened on the bag, the cool air snapping her to her senses. This was stupid. This was all so stupid. Why did she buy the extra things on Toni’s list? She wasn’t trying to play nice and make friends. She was just trying to protect herself. 

Cheryl was about to pivot, march back in there, and force the clerk to let her return them for a refund. But she didn’t. She simply folded the list up and shoved it deep into her pocket along with Toni’s number. The tickle in her chest flared up again as her fingers closed around the tiny slip of paper. 

It was almost as if she’d chugged alcohol, her chest and stomach exploding in little pops and sizzles like Fourth of July fireworks. That or she’d swallowed a pound of Pop Rocks. But you know what?

She felt good for once in her life. The air swirled around her like a friendly ghost, the sun warming up her cheeks. If it hadn’t been for the trouble awaiting at home that she knew was inevitable, she might’ve skipped merrily over to the Thunderbird. But no, for now she padded slowly, the weight of the world (and the bags) nonexistent in the moment. The cut on her cheek didn’t sting. The bruises on her arm didn’t throb. For once she just felt…okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you hardcore Choni shippers for showing these dinguses some love. It keeps me motivated to write more <3 I also appreciate and love each one of your comments. Ugh, they make my day c:   
> Twitter and tumblr: neptuneclarke


	6. Right in the Feels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheryl has no idea what to make of these weird and stupid feelings that keep bubbling up out of nowhere. Also...is that...is that a connection starting to develop? Hmm...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR ALL THE KIND WORDS ABOUT MY WISDOM TEETH. MY MOUTH IS STILL NUMB AND SORE AF BUT I MANAGED TO PUMP OUT THIS CHAPTER. I KNOW IT'S NOT TOO IN DEPTH AND ACTIONY, BUT WAIT TIL YOU READ WHAT I HAVE IN STORE NEXT CHAPTER MY FRIENDS...AHAHAHAHA.

She hadn’t texted her yet. 

No, the small slip of paper still resided nonchalantly in Cheryl’s coat pocket. It was almost as if the thin and narrowed piece of paper could’ve been plucked from a fortune cookie. Her lucky numbers: Toni’s phone number. And her fortune? _A life of regret is ahead of you_. Or: _No one will care about you as much as you want them to_. Or: _Your lucky numbers are only derived from pity and impatience to get a damn art project done_. 

Yeah, probably the last one. Or a combination of all three. Cheryl rolled over in her bed so that she was flat on her back. The top of her canopy bed stared back at her. She’d successfully made it home unnoticed again yesterday. After her weird little shopping trip, Cheryl had stopped for a small cup of ice cream. It was from a little tavern a mile or two outside of town. But they had the best cherry dark chocolate ice cream. Not even Pop’s could compete.

Sometimes it was tough to have to order a small ice cream, knowing that it wasn’t large enough to share with friends. It was only good for one serving. One person. Or how she never got to hang out there with others. How she’d only dream of being able to laugh with acquaintances, friends maybe, and share ridiculous stories from the school day. 

She’d sat at the splintering picnic table outside of the joint, shoving spoonfuls of icy sadness into her mouth. In that moment, somehow, she thought, life hadn’t been much different since she almost joined her brother, Jason. Sometimes a small folded up part of her wished she never texted Veronica a warning. Maybe she’d feel free right now. Maybe happy. All the troubles and mistake built up in her life…gone. 

So, yeah. That little cup of ice cream had tasted a little dull, a little too frozen. Something had shifted inside of her between the grocery store and the ice cream shack. That okay feeling? It’d dispersed as soon as she’d pulled out of the parking lot. And what sort of explanation could derive from that. What? That she somehow felt tethered to the other girl now? That leaving that place, the damn _grocery store_ , cut that bond? 

It wasn’t a bond. It was pity. Pity and the irrelevant nature of wanting to get the redhead out of her hair. Because that’s all anyone wanted to do with Cheryl. They wanted her gone from their lives. She was no more than a bothersome rock in the bottom of their shoe. They’d walk on her for a bit until it was all too much and then shake her out and onto the ground. It was a continuous cycle really. 

But, as for this moment in time and space, she was probably still in Toni’s shoe. A giant, jagged pebble, slicing into the heel of Toni’s foot. Except somehow, maybe the pink-haired girl’s feet were tougher than she’d expected. Maybe they’d stepped on other pebbles before. Rocks even. Stones. 

Cheryl laced her fingers together and placed them gently on top of her stomach. Her eyes traced the swirling designs above her on the canopy, finding comfort in the lazy spirals. When she’d gotten back into to her room the day before, she’d stashed Toni’s snacks under her bed like a criminally active raccoon. She’d also kept the list in her coat pocket, folded so neatly and crisp, as if tarnishing it would ruin its value. 

But it was just a damn, stupid, unnecessary shopping list. It had zero use now that each item had been crossed off. So why did Cheryl care so much? Why did she still keep it?

She couldn’t say why. Maybe it had something to do with the burnt-out fireworks that she had watered down behind her ribcage. At any moment, she could storm over to her coat pocket, crumple the list up, and throw it away. But she didn’t. 

Cheryl only wished she knew how to make that weird little ache inside of her stomach go away. She’d already snuck a Zebra Cake from the snacks she’d bought. But it didn’t quite vanquish the wriggly feeling inside. So what the hell was it?

Well, whatever it was, it didn’t start affecting her until that dreaded day in art class when the mangy Serpent had ruined her drawing. It all came back to her like a flash back had pried open her brain and wiggled itself in front of her eyes. 

It still made her mad to this day. Boiled her blood. Tinged her skin a pale scarlet. Just thinking back about how easily and clumsily the coffee had been knocked over, soaking into her hard work. How Toni had sat dumbfounded, maybe even scared. How the two of them locked eyes for merely a second, the gold flecks in Toni’s sparkling, maybe even shimmering, as they danced back in forth in the heated gaze. 

Cheryl sighed and closed her eyes, the vision becoming too powerful to keep them open. In the dark, she could see the scene unfolding even better. Flashback Cheryl had watched in absolute hatred as Toni had moved to get up. At the time, Cheryl had thought the Serpent was merely ditching the scene, a spill and run. But now that she thought about it harder, she could sense, no _see_ , the shorter girl barreling towards the paper towel dispenser. 

Her caramel skin looked so soft, even bathed in the harsh and yellowed fluorescent lights. Flashback Cheryl couldn’t take her eyes of Toni’s shoulder muscles rippling underneath the flannel mesh aesthetic she was currently sporting. And suddenly, she wanted to touch them. She wanted to touch them so bad that the ache in her stomach flared to life, the firecrackers igniting in her chest. Oh my god. For once in her miserable life, someone had cared about her…Cheryl Blossom. 

Was it out of guilt? Or pity? She didn’t know. But one thing did click in her mind. She had to text Toni. Like right now. She needed to connect to the girl. To make sure she was still just in reach. Someone to fall back on, even if it was subtle and invisible. 

Yes, Veronica cared, and sure so did Betty sometimes. But…Cheryl didn’t think she could ever spew her life’s difficulties at them. It was too much for them to handle. They hadn’t known what it felt like to be broken. To feel lifeless and worthless. To feel disappointed every morning they woke up alive. Cheryl chewed insistently on her bottom lip. 

Her mind was foggy, heart thumping. She couldn’t put a name to the feeling, but she hoped it was a good one. Cheryl sprung up from her bed, palms already sweaty. She made a grab for her red jacket and dug around in the pocket. Gotcha. 

She couldn’t explain it. It was like she _had_ to interact with Toni, to know that she was still out there, a somebody to care, or her whole being would crumble away. Blown in the wind like dust. Disintegrated into nothing. 

The sweat from her hands morphed the paper a bit, the ink smudging around the sides. She feverishly punched the number into a new contact and opened a new message spread. The cursor blinked up at her, a world of different possibilities awaiting to be typed. 

**Hey Cha Cha.**

Lame. She backspaced the entire thing. Her thumbs hovered over the digital keyboard. 

**I want to get this done as much as you do, so why don’t you come over now and we can hurry up and get it finished.**

Oh my god, did that sound like a booty call? Because, yikes, that was like on the complete opposite end of the spectrum of what Cheryl wanted. Not that she wanted anything from the Serpent. Except to get the project over with. Obviously. 

**Might as well get this _boituex_ art project over with. You can stop by if you promise not to spill coffee everywhere**

Cheryl reread the message over at least five more times. Was she being desperate? All her body longed for was attention in any form of interaction. It was simply…what she craved. 

Whatever, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. She knew that, especially with her exquisite archery tactics. This was ridiculous. She was ridiculous. Why was her mind being so difficult and stubborn in this moment? She was texting a classmate, one who she most certainly _hated_ , in order to finish their forced assigned art project. Simple. 

Without a second more to lose, she hit send. 

\--

Toni was in the middle of brushing her teeth when her phone buzzed. She spat out the foamy toothpaste, her toothbrush dangling dangerously from her lips like an old timey cigar. Eyebrows furrowed, she hesitantly dug her phone from her back pocket. 

**Might as well get this _boituex_ art project over with. You can stop by if you promise not to spill coffee everywhere**

Cheryl.

The name ground up her insides as if they were made of the richest coffee beans. The last time she’d socialized with the ginger, it’d left her with a bad taste in her mouth. And that taste became even more sour once Sweet Pea had begun to tease her about giving her number to the other girl. 

Why was giving someone your number the default to starting a relationship? Just because she’d given Cheryl a way to communicate with her outside of school did not mean she wanted to start spending more time with her. It was quite the opposite really. 

All Toni wanted to do was get the art project over with. That’s it. Nothing more. Not even the mystery of Cheryl Blossom piqued her interest anymore. She was just…so tired of fighting with the girl. With herself…

Because, yes. Toni did grow attached to select people. There was Sweet Pea and Fangs…Jughead…hell, even Veronica had started to warm up to her. But Cheryl? 

She shook her head and rinsed off her toothbrush. No, Cheryl was different. She only cared about herself. And Toni wasn’t about to go make a fool out of herself by granting the ginger her every wish like a damn genie from a bottle. Toni just wasn’t that type of girl. 

And right now, with all these thoughts buzzing in her head like little bees in a beehive, she couldn’t handle the likes of the It girl. She punched a series of words into the empty message slot and hit send. 

\--

Cheryl balanced her phone on top of her stomach, waiting for a vibration to shoot across her body. For now she only stared into space, tripping over her own thoughts. A notification buzzed through her phone and she sat up in an instant. Her heart jackhammered behind her ribcage as her bleary eyes began to focus on the message.

**thekevinthwonder started a live video. Watch it before it ends!**

Cheryl rolled her eyes and tossed her phone to the side. She wished she could rip out her own heart and chastise it for acting out so much lately. Stupid phone notifications weren’t supposed to get in her cardio for the day. Texts from boys were. Boys like Archie Andrews or Reggie Mantle that she could have in the snap of a finger. 

Except, Archie was begrudgingly going steady with Veronica, and Cheryl had seen Reggie make enough puppy dog eyes at Josie to call their ‘whatever it was they had’ official. If only Jason were still here. He’d be able to set her up with a man of her dreams. A classic knight in shining armor. Someone to protect her. Because that’s what she needed right now. Just…someone. 

Just then, her phone screen lit up the patchy darkness in her room. She scrambled for the device and read over the message she’d received. 

**Busy at the trailer today. How about another time?**

It was like someone had plunged an icy fist into her chest, grabbing her heart and shaking it like a water wiggly. You know, those tubular jelly things you used to shake as a kid and all the grown ups would laugh and you would too because you didn’t know what was so _dang_ funny, but it turns out they were all laughing at you because it looked like you were giving it a hand job? Yeah. Those things. 

Except Cheryl’s heart didn’t really feel that euphoric climax that happened to come with said hand job. Well. _Some_ hand jobs. Instead, she just felt…emptier. If that was even possible. 

She imagined herself as a cookie jar, filled to the top with warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (her mother never made those…Nana Rose did). So full of life, happiness, and opportunities. Until one day someone snuck a cookie without asking. And then another. And then more people took and claimed the desserts for themselves, not pausing once to think how it’d affect the jar overall. 

And now the last cookie had been snatched, only crumbs littering the bottom of the porcelain container. Yes, you could make crumbs out of a cookie. But you couldn’t make a cookie out of crumbs. 

A sudden idea, and a very regretful one indeed, popped into her head. Her fingers danced across her phone screen, locking in the message that had formed in her mind. Cheryl pushed the little blue arrow beside it and waited for the little ellipses to pop up. 

\--

**I can come over if it isn’t too inconvenient for you. Just trying to get the project out of the way _(eye roll emoji)_**

All the air slipped from Toni’s lungs. Cheryl coming _here?_ No. There was no way in hell. She’d just march her prissy little ass over and start a riot about how none of the Serpents’ furnishings matched the drapery or carpets. Or…or she’d fake a panic attack and hyperventilate across the living room, throwing herself onto a couch and declaring that her claustrophobia was acting up. Or-

“You okay, T?”

Toni hadn’t realized that she was clutching the edge of the counter like it was a lifeline. Her softened her grip watching the color slowly flow back into her knuckles. Sweet Pea padded a few steps forward and rested a concerned hand on her shoulder. “What’s going on?”

Knowing that she couldn’t hide anything to herself in the small trailer, Toni sighed and turned to face him. She held up her phone and showed him the messages. He squinted a bit as her read them. And then he laughed.

_Laughed._

Toni’s face screwed up in confusion. “What?” 

“You _know_ she wants this art project done as quick as possible when she wants to come here. I can just imagine the look on her face when she steps inside.” He paused and straightened his posture, his voice morphing into a higher pitch. “Hmm, I’m surprised there are rats everywhere judging by the fact that you _Serpent scumbags_ slither around her day and night, biting off more than you can chew. Oh, and look at that. A tiny, microscopic spot of dirt on the floor. Where’s your bathroom with the expensive towels and luxury soaps so I can clean off the filth and mildew that’s already sprouting on my body?” He mocked as Cheryl, throwing his arms this way and that way.

Toni let out a tiny laugh, but she felt as though it were forced. She also felt the dire need to defend Cheryl. Like the callous girl was a bit much at times, but maybe it was because there was something deeper affecting her. She let Sweet’s joke slide and went back to making her peanut butter sandwich.

“All I’m saying,” Sweet Pea continued, raising his hands in mock defense. “is that the girl knows what she wants.” And he left it at that. That single sentence hovering in the air between them. She could take it a million different ways. But the one her mind settled on made her whole body tingle as if she’d been electrocuted. Maybe he was right.

But the one thing she knew for a fact, was that she needed the ginger out of her life as fast as possible. And that could only happen one way. Toni quickly texted Cheryl back and pocketed her phone. She didn’t dare check it again until her heart had calmed down.

\--

**Fine. Meet me at my place. Sunnyside Trailer Park, third trailer to the left. 20 minutes**

Without a lick of hesitation, Cheryl began rummaging around her room, scrounging up her art supplies. Most of it was still left out from their last attempted art session. She threw all of her paints and tools into a bigger garnet colored leather backpack and marched over to her dresser.

A row of ruby tinted lip colors were lined up in an army like formation, stock and stiff and not a tube out of place. She plucked the one closest to her and delicately spread the velvety soft cream over her immaculate lips. Her reflection gazed back at her, scruffy and begging for attention. Cheryl ignored the way the cut on her cheek puckered like it too was dying to be noticed.

With a pop of her lips to ensure the best coverage, and a rake of her fingers through her hair, she flung her bag over her shoulder and dipped down beside the bed. Might as well ditch the evidence before Mumsy discovered the illegally immigrated sugary snacks and called the Department of Homeland Security or social services. 

But as she was stuffing the box of Scooby Doo fruit snacks into her bag, she heard the unmistakable rattle of her doorknob. _Shit._

“Cheryl Marjorie Blossom, what in the name of all things sickening is going on in here?”

Cheryl froze, her hand and the snacks still hidden inside of her backpack. Her tongue flopped uselessly in her mouth, her fiery comebacks watered down from the surprise of the moment. Penelope glared at her with such intensity that Cheryl almost shrank back, backed down, gave into her abuse once more. But she didn’t dare move. 

“Are you planning to run away, you deviant little hellion? Because in this house, unless you’re eighteen, you aren’t going anywhere without my permission.” She reached a claw like hand down to her daughter and snatched her up like squirming prey. Cheryl could feel her talons digging into her shoulder, spit flying from her mother’s twisted mouth and splattering across her cheeks. 

That’s when Cheryl’s eyes dropped to the bag, noticing that the Oreo package had tumbled out from the depths. Penelope’s face hardened as she too caught on. Her mother shoved her away and seized the container of cookies. “What the hell is this?” She shook the Oreos in front of Cheryl’s face, her lips taut and scowl growing.

“They’re Oreos, mother. Don’t tell me you’re developing cataracts like Nana Rose,” Cheryl replied simply. Anything to make her mother angrier. To challenge her to deal her worst. She wanted to drag Penelope through her own personal hell by the scruff of her pressed button up. And the only way she knew how was to beat her at her own silly little game. 

“I’m not a damn bat, Cheryl, I can read the packaging. I meant, what the hell are these doing in your room? Where’d you even get such trash? You know I don’t allow such sugary garbage under this roof.” Penelope snarled, her fists crinkling the package. She waved them in front of the younger ginger again, lips curled. “You think it’s funny to break the rules?”

“At least I’m not smuggling Jingle Jangle or trafficking drugs like Daddy did.” Cheryl stood her ground, even as Penelope inched closer, looming over her daughter in outrage. “Don’t you _dare_ bring your father’s name into this,” she snapped, a second from popping Cheryl on the mouth. The ginger, however, knew this game very well. They’d go back and forth until Cheryl found something that really struck her mother. And then it’d get physical. 

That was the worst part of these exchanges. But today, she was ready. Cheryl leapt up onto her bed, swiping up her backpack in the process. Her breathing staggered as her foot slipped over the silky sheets. But she caught herself this time. Cheryl could almost see the angry smoke pouring from her mother’s ears. She’d prodded the raging bull. And now she was bearing a giant red flag across her chest. 

“You wretched, aberrant, little nuisance. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.” That’s when the Oreos were slung across the room, as if Penelope had somehow developed an advanced pitcher’s throw. It was a four-seam fastball, coming in hot, and Cheryl was about to receive a hit by pitch. 

When the package finally struck her, on that same damned spot her mother’s ring had torn open, she only thought about one thing. The only thing in her life that mattered at the moment. The only thing that cared. _Who_ cared. 

Cheryl grabbed the Oreos and clutched them to her chest. She could already feel the blood trickling down her cheek, but she didn’t make a move to smear it away. She wanted her mother to see the damage she’d reopened. 

“Don’t bother looking for me. I mean, you probably won’t once you have the house to yourself. You’ll probably invite a whole hoard of sleazy swine men over and create your own personalized little funhouse.” Cheryl picked her way over to her door, her mother approaching her like a snarling bear. “And just remember the rules…no _sugar_.”

On the mark of her last words, Penelope made another grab for her daughter, but Cheryl had already weaseled her way out of arm’s length. She shot down the stairs as fast as she could, Rapunzel parallels once again filling her mind at the thought of her mother keeping her locked in her room like a prisoner. But prisoner no more. 

Cheryl ignored the tears that demanded to be released, the pressure pounding behind her eyes. Pointed footsteps stumbled behind her, scaring her more as the foot chase ensued. But when she pushed open the front door to Thistle House and turned to see where her hideous mother was in the chase, she realized with a weird jolt that she was no where in sight. 

She didn’t know whether she was relieved or disappointed. Relieved that she was free for the moment. Or disappointed because her mother hadn’t cared enough to stop her. 

\--

Twenty minutes after she’d sent the text, Toni’s phone began buzzing, Cheryl’s contact flashing on her screen. She slid the digital bar over and accepted the call. 

“Hello?”

_“Which one of these dumpsters is your place again?”_

Of course. Toni sighed and cradled the phone between her neck and her ear. “Third trailer to the left. And before you ask, number one, no, the cockroaches here are not big enough to ride like horses. In fact, there aren’t any that even live here, so don’t get your hopes up. Number two, yes, we own a vacuum, but it’s old and a bit broken so it doesn’t really work that well. But still. A vacuum. And number three, it’s a two boys to one girl ratio so of course it’s gonna be a little messy because they’re such slobs. But we all pitch in as much as we can. So, keep your remarks to yourself, hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, and fasten your seatbelt to the best of your ability.” 

Toni fingered the blinds on the window and caught side of the ginger plodding towards the trailer. Maybe she needed those last few instructions for herself because it sure felt like her heart was strapped into a roller coaster, ready for the ride of its life. “But, without further ado,” the Serpent continued, moving towards the screen door and propping it open. “Welcome to the Snake Den.”

The last part of the conversation was directed at the physical version of Cheryl as she made her way down the worn-out path. But as she trudged closer, Toni could tell there was something wrong. Blood was dripping down her face like scarlet stained melted ice cream.

Without even ending the call, Toni shoved her phone into her back pocket, scrambling down the steps of the trailer to meet the ginger. “Cheryl, oh my god, what happened?” All previously impertinent and snarky preconceived notions about the girl completely slipped from her mind. 

Toni reached out to the girl, wrapping her in a half embrace, carefully guiding her up the steps. She was more than relieved that the ginger hadn’t spat venom at her like the last time she’d tried to help. Actually, Cheryl hadn’t really said a word since she’d arrived, with her blood-soaked skin and rumpled package of Oreos she kept snuggled to her frame. Why she had Oreos, Toni didn’t know. But that wasn’t important right now. 

The pink-haired girl led her over to one of the plaid sofas (the one that didn’t have the macaroni and cheese stain from Sweet Pea) and sat her down. “I’ll be right back, okay? Just try to relax.”  
Cheryl nodded, lips trembling as tears cut across her cheekbones. Toni’s heart ached at the sight, but she knew staring at the girl wouldn’t help heal her injury. Instead, she tore off toward the bathroom, digging furiously through the medicine cabinet for the first aid kit. 

Cheryl on the other hand, alone in the Serpent’s living room, felt the stabbing pain of the fruit snacks box in her bag dig into her back. She didn’t move. Numb enough to everything already, she thought, what other pain could she endure? It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. 

She took the opportunity of Toni’s vacancy to gaze around the room. It had a homey and cozy vibe to it. Little framed pictures of the trio decorated the space, warm lamp lights washing over the wooden paneled walls. There was even a nice looking TV staring down at her from a wide television stand. That was probably the most expensive thing in the entire trailer. She wondered if it had cost more than a few months rent on the place. 

A basket of scented pinecones sat on top of the glass coffee table in front on her, giving off wafts of cinnamon scents. Beside the basket were a few Car and Driver magazines, a small jar of Peanut M&M’s, and a stack of glimmering emerald coasters. She cautiously reached out to touch one, out of no particular reason, and felt the cool glass calm the heat that pulsed out through her fingers. 

Sitting here, in Toni’s trailer, surrounded by items of personal value rather than monetary value, made Cheryl’s entire being ache. Back home, there were no pictures of her or Jason hung around Thistle House. Hell, if a stranger had walked into their house, they would’ve probably thought that Penelope lived alone with at least seven cats. Those poor cats. 

Cheryl let herself sink more into the couch, eyes still swimming lazily over each detail in the room. With every new display that she discovered, she found herself growing more and more persistent to memorize the details. How she wished she had people who’d care enough to exhibit her photos along the lonely halls of Thistle House. 

Snapping Cheryl from a part of her hollow depression, Toni sped back into the room, arms hugging a first aid kit and other tedious medical supplies. She sat down at the very edge of the couch and gently placed the kit on the coffee table. “What happened?” Toni asked again, this time softer and more concerned. Cheryl felt an evident lump in her throat start to burn. 

She wanted to say it. She wanted to ramble on to Toni all about how her mother abused her. How she didn’t care enough. How no one cared enough. But she didn’t think a sob story like this was what the other girl wanted to hear. No one ever liked hearing someone else rant about their problems. At least, that’s what Cheryl thought. 

Her nose burned like someone had stuck it on a stick like a marshmallow and roasted it over an open flame. “Hey,” Toni softly murmured, gingerly taking one of Cheryl’s clammy hands into her own. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You don’t have to tell me about it if you don’t want to. Just know I’m right here.”

Toni dabbed a wet washcloth to Cheryl’s cheek with her free hand, feeling the ginger squeeze a little tighter as she washed the blood away. As a comforting gesture, the Serpent ran her thumb over the back of Cheryl’s hand. 

It was right there. Stuck in her throat. Cheryl wanted to say it so badly, yet something was holding her back. She only managed to squeeze a tiny whimper from her lungs as Toni hit a particularly sensitive spot on her cut. She wasn’t strong enough. She wasn’t strong enough. She wasn’t-

“We don’t have to work on the project right now if you don’t want to.” Toni held Cheryl’s gaze tenderly, applying pressure to her cheek wound. Cheryl stared right on back with big, watery puppy dog eyes. Was that…was that empathy?

“She hit me,” the ginger blurted out. But it didn’t stop there. It was like someone had popped open a bottle of champagne, the words tumbling from her mouth like a Niagara Falls of wine.

“So, so many times. Too many for me to count. Everyone thinks I’m this loveless monster, but I’m not. She’s got them brainwashed to think that, but it’s really her who doesn’t care about anything. I just…I just want to feel like I matter. But instead, I wake up every morning alone, afraid to even walk downstairs. My mother…people at school…people _anywhere_ …they just make me feel like worthless garbage. What if the only way to not feel like that is to stop feeling anything at all forever?”

And then she saw it. The flicker in the other girl’s eyes. Like a light switch being flipped on in the middle of a dark and stormy night. Toni wrapped her fingers soothingly around Cheryl’s cheek, ceasing the bleeding with her small amount of pressure. 

“Cheryl, you need to know that your mother’s wrong. You’re not worthless garbage. You’re not loveless, okay? And you definitely aren’t a monster. People care about you, Cheryl. Just the other day, Betty and Veronica stood up for you against Chuck. You’re lucky to have those kinds of people in your life.” 

She paused for a brief moment, lifting the wet cloth from the redhead’s damp cheek. Toni applied a smear of antiseptic cream to the wound, her fingertips loitering on Cheryl’s puffy face for a beat longer than necessary. “You just need to know that…you’re sensational. And no one, not even your horrific mother, could ever take that away from you. You’re special, Cheryl. You’ve got a fire in you that I’ve never seen in anyone else before.”

As soon as a bandage had been smoothed over her cut, Cheryl found herself not wanting to let go of the Serpent’s hand. “Thank you,” was all she managed to whisper, her stray hand batting away rogue tears. “for everything.”

Toni nodded, concern still flitting across her face. Everything she thought she knew about the other girl completely dissolved as Cheryl tore her own walls down. Not only did she feel incredibly sorry for the girl sitting beside her, fighting off tears and pain, but she also felt another feeling. It was one she hadn’t felt in a very long time. One that she probably would never admit to herself. At least not now. She shoved the feeling down as hard as she could and grabbed the remote control from the end of the couch. 

“How about we watch a little Netflix until you’re feeling up for working on the assignment?” Toni inquired, flipping the television on. Cheryl only snuggled back into the couch, a silent confirmation of the proposal. Toni settled on an episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, considering that the ginger could use a fellow ginger, of carefree bubbliness and happiness, to help cheer her up through this rough patch. 

It was only halfway through the episode when Toni remembered that their hands were still knotted together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy. We LOVE that subtle build up. Great things are coming next chapter. GET YOUR CHONI LOVING ASSES READY. And, as always, I FUCKING LOVE AND LIVE FOR YOUR COMMENTS. SO THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE LOVE AND SUPPORT.  
> Tumblr/Twitter: neptuneclarke


	7. It's a Piece of Cake to Bake a Pretty Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Choni FINALLY get around to starting that dang art project. Let the shipping commence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a thicc chapter because I literally couldn't stop writing omg. FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF AND THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL OF THE LOVELY COMMENTS <3 I think this chapter is one of my favorites so far

That damn box of Scooby Doo fruit snacks was still digging into her spine. But Cheryl didn’t dare move, afraid to screw up the safety net feeling of comfort wrapped around one of her hands. Because yes, two and a half episodes into Kimmy Schmidt, and Toni had not let go. Or Cheryl hadn’t let her let go. _Or_ maybe they both were hesitant to drop the other’s hand. 

All Cheryl knew was that something had shifted in her over the duration of the Netflix episodes. It was like a cog inside of her had magically started to turn, brining to life a brand new network of time. A positive spring forward. But still, her entire body pounded with a fear of being let go, a vacuum like noise screeching in her ears. 

She’s in the water, Toni on top of a _big enough for at least two door_ , their beings connected by a single palm hold. Cheryl knows how this part goes. She’s watched the film a dozen times over to know that Rose always lets go. And Jack always slips away, fading into the bleak darkness of the ocean until he is nothing but a mere memory. She knew it was bound to happen eventually, the ache in her chest a constant reminder that nothing remotely good in her life ever stayed. Her hand was a string and Toni was an oblivious little girl about to release the helium balloon forever. 

But then a thumb moved over the backside of Cheryl’s hand, rhythmic like waves on the ocean. It soothed her jittery nerves just _a bit_ , but enough to quiet the monstrous roars vibrating in her ears. She sighed quietly to herself. 

An annoying beeping sound suddenly cut into the dialogue on screen and both Toni and Cheryl’s heads snapped toward the direction of the kitchen. The faint smell of a freshly baked cake tickled the ginger’s nose. Toni quickly untangled herself from the other girl and made her way towards the insistent timer.

And there it was. That wailing ache in her chest, plummeting down into her stomach. Cheryl fiddled with the straps of her backpack. Again, this was dumb. She was overthinking everything.   
Of course Toni had said all of that “nice” stuff to her. What else was she supposed to say when Cheryl basically threw herself at the girl, bleeding and sobbing her life out? It was bullshit. All bullshit, and Cheryl knew it. She acted in her fair share of musicals and plays, so she could see right through the little character Toni had built up. Fake. Fake. Fake. 

But then again, why had she held her hand for _that_ long? _Was_ it out of pity? Oh my _godddddddd_ she was thinking too much again. But that’s what happens when this stuff comes blindsiding you out of nowhere. You have to pinch yourself to make sure you’re not dreaming. As if people caring or noticing you was all fantasy, sentenced to a life in only fairy tales and the wildest of dreams. 

So it felt okay. In this moment. It was simple if she didn’t think too much. Which, yikes, Cheryl really had to work on that. A simplified, dulled down summary of the previous hour’s events. Cheryl cried. Toni soothed her. Cheryl cried some more. Toni put on Netflix. Cheryl still cried but Toni held her hand. Cheryl felt butterflies in her stomach…

_Don’t think to much. Don’t think too much. Don’t think too much._

Thousands and thousands of swarming butterflies, flapping their wings and tickling her insides making her feel like she swallowed a gallon of fizzy soda and a whole slew of Mentos. But…  
So maybe, just _maybe_ , Cheryl was like that stupid Operation game. And she was so deprived of touches and care, that when anyone _did_ touch her, she lit up in an electric shock like the game. It was all very natural. No subtext in those feelings. Simply science. And science-y facts didn’t really link up with emotions. 

Her body had simply caused a reduction of blood flow to the organ, triggering extra sensitivity to the fight-or-flight response. All those hormones and adrenaline and cortisol…raising her heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure…making her a quivering, unstable, sweaty, jittery mess. 

So Cheryl was a little bit of a science nerd. And yeah, oh yeah, she was maybe, kinda, sorta, almost, most definitely, thinking too much. Maybe. 

And oh shit, it felt like she was a Sim, her social bar’s levels depleted all the way down into the red. As if life were an entire simulation (which let’s face it, it might as well be), Cheryl was suddenly standing, moving towards the kitchen like someone had clicked on that particular spot. 

“Cake’s done,” Toni smiled when Cheryl had finally padded up to her. The ginger cocked her head like a confused little Pomeranian puppy. “You made a cake?”

The pink-haired girl inhaled a deep breath over the baked creation, her eyes rolling in a sugary ecstasy. “Yep, for the art project, remember? Because, you know, some of us unartistic folks have to resort to using things other than _exquisitely uncreative materials_.” She twisted her mouth into a joking smirk.

“Wow, nice one, Cha Cha. Look at you caring about the Earth enough to _recycle_ old jokes,” Cheryl shot back just as playfully. And it was weird. Usually her snarky comments would fuel the fiery power she always thought necessary to wield. But this held a different chemical reaction. 

Toni placed the potholders neatly on the counter and began to poke and prod at the cake. “So, what I’m thinking is that I’m going to frost this, and then use the candy melts to like, I don’t know, draw you on here? Is that weird?” Cheryl watched as she made her way over to the refrigerator to pull out a tub of frosting. “Not as weird as using ketchup as paint,” she mused, wishing to fabricate another smile from the Serpent. 

And yep, there it was. The smallest flicker of a smile dancing on Toni’s lips. “You know, you should probably wait until the cake cools down a little to frost it, amateur,” Cheryl grinned coolly, stopping the shorter girl in her tracks. Toni’s eyes flicked between the cake and the ginger. “Thanks for the tip, Sylvia Weinstock.”

“You know, speaking of sweets and cakes,” Cheryl drawled, shrugging her backpack off her shoulders. “I found your discarded list at the store yesterday and thought you might like these.” 

She began placing the boxes of snacks on the counter beside the other girl. Toni’s eyes were bulging, as if Cheryl were somehow showing off a large ransom of stolen money she’d stowed in her backpack. “Wait, you…what?”

Cheryl dipped her hand into the bag to retrieve the opened package of Zebra cakes. “Look, the way I treated you before…I’m sorry. I was…am…in a dark place right now, and you were just in the path of the patented “Blossom Shitstorm”. But…I just wanted to say thanks for…um…caring.” Her words were all jumbled up. Ugh, she was supposed to be a smooth talker, not some blubbering buffoon. 

“Cheryl, I don’t even know what to say. This is just…” Toni marveled at the snack selection before her eyes. “I should be thanking you. We both said and did some stupid stuff, but I’m kind of glad we did because now we’re here. But why don’t we just put that petty crap behind us? What do you say? Friends?” She held her hand out like she was about to make a very rationally effective business deal. 

Something about Toni’s offer made Cheryl’s shoulders droop but she took the other girl’s hand anyway. “Friends.”

\--

Once the cake had cooled enough, and all of the candy melts had been efficiently melted, the duo gathered around the small kitchen table. The opened container of Oreos sat happily between them. Toni handed Cheryl a knife and they both set to work frosting the outside of the golden cake. 

“I’m just saying, they had some really good chemistry,” the Serpent chided, scooping a glob of frosting from the container. They had talked through a couple of topics, but once Cheryl had mentioned Pretty Little Liars, Toni had nearly flipped the table over in excitement. Cheryl Blossom, enjoying and fangirling over PLL? This girl was amazing!

Right now, they were in a heated debate over who Aria’s one true soulmate was. Of course Cheryl insisted that it was Ezra, but Toni had another speculation in mind. “Spencer just really got her, you know? They could’ve played that off so well. Just imagine all the hype they’d get for it.”

“You mean hate. All of the Ezria stans would lose their marbles. Plus, I think it was love at first sight. I mean, your first love is always one to remember right?” Cheryl smeared a thick layer of frosting over the cake, not meeting her new friend’s eyes. “Right, I’m just saying that Spencer’s always been there for her. And come on, you’ve gotta admit that they’d be a hot couple, if not already adorable.”

A rosy blush tinged the apples of Cheryl’s cheeks. She could feel the slight burning sensation tickling underneath the bandage that Toni had applied. Was she still talking about Sparia? Or…?  
“Fine, they’d be adorable. But I feel like Aria had more of a connection with Ezra because they were both English nerds.”

“That’s like saying that because you’re so talented at art, you should just date Mr. Patrillo,” Toni smirked, earning a glare from the ginger. Cheryl shriveled her nose up in face of mock disgust. “That’s completely different, and just gross.”

“How is it different? On one hand, you’ve got the cute girl, all adorably interested in her favorite school subject, and then on the other, you’ve got a gross man child who’ll gladly take his opportunity and male pattern baldness to get with her.”

Did Toni just call her cute? She definitely just called her cute. Or maybe she meant Aria. Or both of them. Cheryl’s heart was in her throat, making it nearly impossible to speak. “If Mr. Patrillo ever tried that, I’d just call you up to punch him for me. You’re really good at that.”

“It _is_ my specialty,” Toni said sheepishly, pausing from her uneven frosting distribution. “Men are such pigs sometimes... So if he ever asks you to paint nude portraits of him, I’ll swoop in and knock his ass out. Unless you’re into that.”

“Definitely not.” Her face was on fire. It should not be humanly possible to sit here, scorching, and be totally okay with it. She felt like The Human Torch. “But you sure talk a lot about it. Did I just accidentally discover the Queen of the Buskers’ kink?”

Toni kicked Cheryl under the table and rolled her eyes. “Oh, totally. You caught me. It’s my kink to involve myself in the nudist art community. Really gets me off.” Cheryl kicked her back, the toe of her sock catching Toni’s ankle. “You probably pretend to be really bad at art just as a cover up. Oh my god, are you an undercover nudist?”

The pink-haired girl lightly slapped Cheryl’s arm, snorting, “Undercover nudist? Nope. Sorry to disappoint.” Toni moved her knife into the jar of frosting and spoke after a beat of silence. “You really think my art’s bad?”

Uh oh. 

So here’s the thing. Yes, Cheryl was an artist. Yes, she’d been perfecting her craft for many years now, so of course she’d surpassed her other classmates’ skill levels. Sometimes that felt good. To create something so beautiful, from one’s desolate and dark mind, that people would fawn over? Fantastic. 

But she hated, absolutely _despised_ people comparing themselves to her. Of course, she never knew what to say. She’d worked hard in this field and it showed. Others, however? They shot themselves down over one failed art attempt and made Cheryl feel like the bad guy. 

So, no. Toni’s art wasn’t bad. Like every art teacher on the planet said: “There’s no such thing as bad art”. Cheryl wasn’t too good at cooking, but she wasn’t bad. Just not as trained or practiced as others. Simple as that. 

“Utterly despicable. I had to get prescription glasses after looking at it,” Cheryl teased, because supposedly, that was the only way she knew how to communicate. She hoped that Toni was smart enough to know that. Apparently she was, because a giant glob of frosting was suddenly being swiped across Cheryl’s nose, a gesture of good humor. 

“Oh my god!” The redhead shrieked, flinging her own finger into the frosting container and smearing it across the Serpent’s nose. Toni giggled, her eyes shimmering. “You look like you’re about to take a stroll on the beach.” She gestured to the white glob on Cheryl’s nose as if it weren’t excruciatingly evident. “It’s a cute lewk.”

Ugh! The things that girl said that were magically powerful enough to somehow knot Cheryl’s tongue. She took a napkin to the mess of sugar on her nose while Toni just shrugged, scraping hers off with her finger. Cheryl glanced at the other girl _just_ in time to see her shove her frosting covered finger in her mouth, painfully aware of how tantalizingly slow she was doing it. The burning sensation that stretched across the ginger’s face suddenly took a Greyhound down to her lower body.

Fidgeting, she cast her eyes away, forcing them to study the intricate detailing of the cabinets that lined the kitchen. Hmm, those were some interesting cabinets. She wondered how old they were. Or what was inside of them. Anything to distract herself from the throbbing that seemed to absorb her whole body. 

But then Toni’s cleansed finger popped from her mouth, the shorter girl making a move to stand. Cheryl’s eyes flitted back over to the Serpent, waiting for what would come next in their little art project. But Toni only threw her arms up in the air, stretching her fingers to the ceiling and squeezing her eyes shut. She groaned softly, the black t-shirt she was wearing riding up, just a _smidge_ , to reveal her exposed midsection. 

Such lovely cabinets they were, with their little decorative swirls. Lovely indeed. What color brown was that? Walnut? Hickory? Carob? Umber? Ced-

“Okay, I think it’s time to get started on the portrait part of this art project,” Toni interrupted, plopping back down into her seat. “I just have to fill up these piping bags with the candy melts and we should be good to go.”

As Toni began unsuccessfully trying to maneuver the melted candies into the bags, Cheryl felt the thick layers she’d built up around herself slowly dissolve. She was sitting in her enemy’s kitchen (who was now supposedly her friend?) and joking and laughing and baking with her like it was nothing. And suddenly that song…For Good was it? Yeah, that song from Wicked…made sense. 

Maybe because now that she knew Toni…really _knew_ her…she’d been changed for good. If that were true, Mr. Patrillo was a miracle worker and someone should probably bump up his pay. 

A couple of Oreos and spilled candy melts later, and all of the piping bags had been filled. Toni had a rainbow of drips down her arms and hands but whatever, it was art, and that art happened to be delicious. “I’m sorry in advance if I can’t do justice with this piece. We both know art isn’t my strong suit, plus I don’t know if I could _ever_ recreate the one of a kind masterpiece sitting in front of me.”

Did Toni even try to be subtle? Or was this just the way she spoke to everyone? “Trust me, this “masterpiece” is no more than a kindergartener’s sloppy finger painting.” Cheryl toyed with one of the piping tips, fitting it over her finger. 

Everyone who knew her would say she was the queen of confidence. They’d say she valued herself over everyone, narcissistically and self-conceited as always. But that was never the case. It was all just a well-practiced act. Cheryl had always had issues with her self-worth and confidence. But she never let that show. Because if she did, she’d appear weak, and that was like jumping into shark infested waters while bleeding out. 

Girls pettier than what she was believed to be would call her out saying that there wasn’t a single crack in the façade. Cheryl would tell them not to judge a book by a cover. Or so, that’s what she wanted to say. Usually she’d just glare at them and they’d scurry by like little rats. 

She’d forced herself to keep up this stone cold appearance because in Riverdale High, she was the It girl. This meant that she was at the tippy top of the social status list and one false move could send her plummeting down. There was only one direction to go when one was at the highest point. And dropping to her social death was worse than being isolated at the top of the pyramid. 

“Maybe if the kindergartener was a child art prodigy,” Toni quipped, finally, _finally_ capping a tip to her first peachy colored piping bag. “Now pull a Daya and sit still, look pretty. Not that that should be a hard job.”

Hoo boy, good thing Toni didn’t have the pink melted candies in hand because she’d probably put that down as the natural base color of Cheryl’s skin. Come to think of it, the more she blushed, the less pale she looked. Maybe it was a win win after all. 

Cheryl folded her hands crisply in her lap and stared at the girl in front of her struggling to pipe even a line of the candy puree out. She internally cringed, watching as Toni squeezed the bag like a tube of toothpaste, the plastic swelling and threatening to burst. And without even thinking (because she was trying hard not to do that too much, remember?), Cheryl rose from the kitchen chair and stepped over to Toni. 

“You’re squeezing that way too hard, Cha Cha. I know you want to wrap your little happy go lucky snake tail around it and squeeze the life out of the bag but you just have to be…” Cheryl wrapped her hands around the piping bag on top of Toni’s. “Gentle,” she whispered.

Standing behind Toni and the chair, chest flush against the rungs, Cheryl could feel a surge of confidence rush through her veins. She applied a slight pressure to the tops of Toni’s hands, compressing the bag enough for a neat little line of sugar to slide out. “Now you just…” Cheryl leaned her head down so that her lips were inches from Toni’s ear. “Manipulate the line however you want.”

She swore she heard Toni’s breath catch. As slowly as she could, she moved their hands to the corner of the cake and piped a small rose. Yeah, it was the most cliché flower, but it sure looked pretty. Especially in the peachy color the Serpent had made. 

“See? Piece of cake. Ironic, huh?” Cheryl eased up on the girl as if they hadn’t just shared an intimate moment. Or at least, she took it as an intimate. She reached a hand over Toni’s shoulders _one more time_ to grab an Oreo, making it more difficult than it should’ve been. When the ginger retracted her fist, she made sure to “accidentally” brush Toni’s, sprinkling a peppering of the black cookie dust on her hand. 

And with that, Cheryl Blossom took a seat back in her chair, smirk on face, cookie in hand, and watched an overtly yearning Toni burn in her own unstable blush. 

\--

Toni was chastising herself as hard as she could, her insides slapping her silly for having these stupid thoughts. But when Cheryl did things like _that_ and gave her those stupid, hot little smirks. It was just…arghhhhhhhhhhh. 

Holy shit she just needed to focus on getting as much as this project finished as she could. And then, with that out of the way, they could just simply live as friends and do things that chill friends normally do. Hang out, go to the movies, watch Netflix, go out to dinner, take them back home and fuck them against a door…

Okay, see, this is why Toni didn’t allow her thoughts to run rampant and unfiltered. And this is also why she didn’t really have that many girl friends. And that was girl friends with a space in between “girl” and “friends”. Ugh, she was so bad at this. She always read way too much into things, got her feelings mixed in, and always ended up getting herself hurt. For all she knew, Cheryl could just be being super friendly with her since she’d shown the girl some remorse. Hell, she didn’t even know if Cheryl were anything other than straight. Toni hated that society had deemed that as default. Straight. Ugh. 

But for now, she wrangled her thoughts and closed them off into a little pen, much like a shepherd and his sheepdog to unsuspecting sheep. This was not happening. She wouldn’t be held responsible for ruining yet another one of her blossoming friendships. 

So instead, she did as Cheryl instructed. She squeezed the bag gently, tracing over the cake to match the shapes of Cheryl’s face. She had to admit, there were no complaints over getting to stare at the girl for an extended period of time. Plus, she had an excuse to do so, so it wasn’t at all weird. 

She filled in little spaces here and little spaces there and over about a period of twenty minutes, it didn’t even look half bad. I mean, you could still tell it was the ginger. Sort of. If you kind of squinted your eyes and tilted your head and maybe looked at it from a distance. But still. 

It was around the time that Toni was piping in Cheryl’s eyebrows that Sweet Pea and Fangs came stomping through the trailer door. “I’m so sick of those damn Ghoulies,” Sweet Pea growled from the living room. Toni paused her cake decorating and looked apologetically at the taller girl. “I’ll be right back,” she whispered, leaving the ginger alone at the table. 

As soon as she rounded the corner, she was met with a black-eyed Pea. But there was no Boom Boom Pow involved. Unless you count the “pow” that probably delivered a punch to the Serpent’s eye. “What happened?” Toni demanded, helping Sweet Pea stagger to the couch. Fangs had a cut on his forehead.

Sweet Pea slumped into the cushions, pushing a palm against his head. “Damn Ghoulies. They were down at the ice cream shop you like, T. Trying to rob the joint. And it just so happens that Fangs and I were there, trying to enjoy our damn ice cream. But, like, we couldn’t just let them belittle the place, because that’s like _our_ place. So, naturally, we did what anyone else would’ve.”

“You tried to stop them,” the pink-haired girl guessed, groaning when Fangs nodded. “Guys, we talked about that. They’re way too dangerous to handle alone. How many were there?” Fangs and Sweet Pea exchanged a not so subtle glance. “Five or six?” He mumbled, as if it were a casual number. 

Toni gawked at them. “So you guys thought a two to six fight would be fair? They’re Ghoulies, they don’t give a shit about us. What would’ve happened if you hadn’t gotten away? Or if they did something worse than a black eye?”

“But they didn’t and we’re fine,” Fangs huffed, avoiding the shorter girl’s eyes. “You’re bleeding,” she stated matter-of-factly, pointing to the cut above his eyebrow. Confused, he pressed his fingers to it and winced slightly. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“You’re not. You know you should never go up against those idiots unless you’ve got backup.” Fear was creeping in and morphing her tone into anger. For them to risk their lives over something as stupid as ice cream? It was completely idiotic. 

“So what, were we just supposed to sit there and watch them commit a crime and not do anything about it?” Sweet Pea grumbled, lifting his whole head to meet Toni’s eyes. “That place is sacred, T, and you know it.”

It was sacred. They knew that all too well. It was the place that they’d all met for the first time. Toni was no more than a tween, one of her late father’s friends, FP Jones, and his son, Jughead, taking her out for a frozen treat. Little Sweet Pea and Fangs were there as well in the company of Sweets’ mom. They’d all stood in line together, bickering over which flavor they’d choose. 

Fangs and Sweet Pea were in front of her and as soon as the pair had both gotten their order of a triple scooped mint chocolate chip, she should’ve known it’d end horribly. To make a long story short, six scoops of green ice cream were slopped all over her and Jughead’s outfits, from chest to sneakers. But somehow, that frozen dessert was the start of a very long and beautiful friendship.

Now every month they went out for ice cream in remembrance. Sweet Pea was determined to try each and every flavor and combination. It proved to be a challenge, however, as the little ice cream shop was always adding new flavors. 

“Hey, um, I think I’m gonna go.”

All three Serpent heads snapped around to see a twitchy Cheryl Blossom standing in the kitchen entrance. A bag of frozen mixed vegetables was held stiffly in her hand. Before Toni could question the sudden vegetable infatuation, the ginger was marching over to Sweet Pea and handing it to him. “Heard you got a little banged up,” was all she said. 

“Thanks,” Sweet Pea answered cautiously, confused as to why number one: the ginger was here, number two: why she was being “nice” to him, and number three: why there was a giant bandage covering her cheek. Toni felt her mood lower more if that were even possible. 

“Oh, are you sure? You could stay for dinner if you want. I could order a pizza or-”

“I think I’m actually going to go over to Veronica’s. But, thanks.”

Toni felt that familiar ache starting to build up in her chest again. “Okay, well, see you tomorrow then.” And even that felt like it’d be a lifetime away. The pair in art class, continuing on in their lives almost as if none of this had happened. 

Cheryl nodded and pushed her way out through the trailer’s door, red backpack snug against her. Toni watched her go, wishing the small tug of sadness in her gut would leave her alone. 

\--

As soon as the night air hit Cheryl, she realized how late it was. The sky was still blue, but hesitantly shifting over into darker hues. A few stars twinkled overhead and even the moon glowed shyly as if to say hi to her. 

She’d felt as if she were intruding. Cheryl was a Northside girl with Northside problems. Toni was a Southside girl with Southside problems. There were those Romeo and Juliet parallels again. Plus, she didn’t really feel like being in the middle of their bickering. Even though it sounded like Toni cared about the two boys a lot. 

And now she was stuck with the lie she concocted about going over to Veronica’s. She knew she couldn’t. If it felt weird being here, it’d feel even weirder being in the company of Hermione and Hiram Lodge. Plus, she knew Veronica’s parents probably wouldn’t let her stay over on a school night. There was just no way she was going home to her god awful mother. 

Maybe she could stay at Betty’s? Alice Cooper was always like the mom she’d always wanted but never had. But then, there was the fact that Hal Cooper still resided there, which Cheryl still didn’t understand. So that was a big fat no. 

Besides B and V, she really didn’t have anywhere left to turn. She could sleep in her car but that seemed too pitiful. Or maybe she could rent a motel room. But again, too sleazy, too pitiful.   
She was only halfway down the pathway when she made up her mind. Cheryl spun on her heel and marched right back up those steps and knocked on the trailer door. This time, Fangs was the one who pulled it open, Cheryl bestowing another look of confusion on a Serpent. 

“Cheryl, did you forget something or…?”

She wrung her hands. There was no way to make this sound unsympathetic. “Veronica just cancelled on me so I guess I’m free for the night.” The ginger looked past Fangs and met Toni’s surprised gaze, hoping that the Serpent wouldn’t see through her. “Is that pizza offer still good?”

\--

After an amazing dish of pizza and an episode of Pretty Little Liars on Netflix, Cheryl finally let her jittery nerves relax. It’d been so long since she’d had a slice of cheesy goodness. She hadn’t realized how much she was missing out on by swapping cheesy bread for salad leaves. 

Aside from the occasional commentary on the episode, Sweet Pea and Fangs hadn’t said much. Cheryl figured it must have something to do with the fact that she was there but Toni assured her otherwise later. 

The two had cleaned up the cake madness and stowed the dessert and the leftover pizza in the Serpents’ fridge. Now they were in Toni’s room, the pink-haired girl digging through her dresser drawers. “I promise it’s not you. They’re just pissed about the Ghoulies. I am too. They think they can do anything just because people are scared of them.” She shook her head. “The cops here aren’t very friendly towards us either, so if we ever tried to call them…”

“Please, the Northside cops are nothing but useless lumps of donut eating pigs. Have you seen Sheriff Keller? He only lifts one of his pudgy little fingers if something has to do with the Serpents or someone threatening Mayor McCoy. He ignores all the real crimes going down.” Cheryl sat perched on Toni’s bed, a hand running smoothly over the soft comforter. 

Finally, Toni’s head popped up, a rumpled black shirt in her hand. She tossed it to Cheryl who caught it and eyed it skeptically. The Serpent rolled her eyes. “You can’t sleep in that,” she pointed to the formal outfit Cheryl was currently wearing. “Plus, I promise it doesn’t have any diseases on it. Well, any transmittable ones.”

Cheryl grinned at the playfulness in Toni’s words. When the shorter girl had turned back toward the dresser, the ginger shrugged her shirt over her shoulders, replacing it with the black one. It was an old band tee from the looks of it. She stretched the material out in front of her and read “ _Bon Jovi: Slippery When Wet_ ”. 

Huh. It didn’t come as a surprise that the Serpent would own a shirt like this. Still, Cheryl marveled at the way it looked so faded and loved, almost as if it’d been worn every single day of her life. Plus, it didn’t have that musky dresser smell. No, it smelled more cinnamon-y and human. She inhaled deeply, smiling to herself as her heart thumped in reaction to the scent. 

With Toni still rifling through her drawers, Cheryl kicked off her skirt and peeled off her tights. She placed them neatly on the floor and thanked god Toni’s shirt was big enough to hang over her legs. Still, she felt a little deviant as her mother had called it. Maybe she was. 

Toni finally spun around holding a pair of fleece pajama bottoms out for Cheryl. They were dark blue and plaid patterned. Because of course Toni owned so much damn plaid. It was her fittingly appropriate aesthetic. Cheryl unnecessarily rose from the bed and moved oh so slowly towards the girl. She just had to make her _painfully_ aware of the lack of pants on her body. 

And so rightfully she did because holy hell, was Toni checking her out? Oh my god, she totally was. Smirking, Cheryl snatched the bottoms from Toni and pulled them over her exposed legs as slowly as humanly possible. After a beat, the Serpent clumsily made her way to the top of the bed, just out of reach from Cheryl’s vision. Again, she smiled to herself, proud to have gotten into the pink-haired girl’s mind. 

“You can have the bed if you want.” Toni busied herself by fluffing a pillow but Cheryl knew it was only a distraction. She’d been fluffing it for far too long. “Don’t tell me I’m kicking you out onto the floor,” Cheryl questioned, eyeing the girl skeptically. It was a queen-sized bed. There was literally no need for Toni to sleep on the floor.

“I’m fine down there. I’ve slept in worse places.” She stole a velvety pillow and threw it down beside the bed. “I promise, compared to sleeping in a car, this is luxury.”

“Still, this is _your_ trailer,” Cheryl insisted, trying her best to hint subtly at the girl that she in fact wanted her to join her. “And you’re my _guest_ ,” Toni argued. She picked up a worn gray blanket and curled it around her body like a cape. Cheryl chewed her lip. “What if I roll off the bed in the middle of the night and fall on top of you?”

“I can assure you that you probably won’t. Although I won’t complain if you happen to _fall on top of me_.” She winked and Cheryl felt her insides turn to mush. Right track, Topaz, but not quite there yet. “I read an article on BuzzFeed that says if you sleep on the floor you’ll have back problems when you’re older.”

“Cheryl, it’s one night. I think I can handle it,” Toni laughed, moving toward the light switch. “You good? Need any water or anything?” 

Bent on buying more time, Cheryl nodded a little too eagerly, earning a slightly weird look from Toni. But the girl smiled anyway, padding from the room. Cheryl fiddled with the hem of her pajama bottoms wondering how this girl could be so damn oblivious. All Cheryl wanted was a little bit of friendly attention. Was that so bad? And besides, friends slept in the same bed during sleep overs all the time. Right?

She was sure she could recall Betty and Veronica doing such a thing before. So it couldn’t be completely unfathomable. Before she could come up with any other reasons for the Serpent not to sleep on the floor, Toni had returned, glass in hand. And suddenly an idea sparked in her mind. 

“One glass of water for Cheryl Bombshell,” she smiled, handing the glass to the other girl. Cheryl reached a shaky hand out for it and accidentally on purpose let it slip out from between her fingers. The cup (thankfully) hit the floor without shattering, its water seeping out onto the carpet. And that spot of carpet happened to be the place where Toni was supposed to sleep. It was just like that fateful day in art class. Only now Cheryl was the one spilling liquids. 

“Oops, sorry.” Cheryl stood abruptly, trying her best to conceal the grin that was sneaking its way onto her face. Toni threw a blanket in reach on top of the spill, the liquids now absorbing through its fabric. “No, no, no, it’s okay!” 

“Hmm, looks like I ruined your sleeping spot.” Cheryl did her best to act sheepish. And Toni was totally buying into it. Maybe. “Nah, it’s all good. I can just put another blanket down on top of it. I’ll be okay.”

Oh my god, this girl was so dense sometimes. “Um, what if a weird mildew starts to grow or you get a bacterial infection from the water soaking into the blanket?” And that’s when Toni _finally_ got it, the pieces of the puzzle clicking into place. 

“Are you really concerned about my health or do you just want me up in the bed with you _that_ bad?” Cheryl snorted, ducking her head so Toni wouldn’t see the color creeping up into her face after being caught. “Please, how do you know I wasn’t just looking out for you? Maybe I actually wanted to sleep on the floor.”

“Do you?”

“…No…”

Toni raised her eyebrows as if silently asking if this is what the girl really wanted and wishing to earn permission to climb into her own bed. “I just…I never really had a good friend before. And it feels nice to be…close to someone. I just always feel so alone so…”

“I’ll come sleep with you,” Toni affirmed, but then stopped herself chuckling. “Sleep with you, not sleepwithyou.” 

A big bundle of relief finally hugged Cheryl as she scooched to one side of the bed. “I’m guessing you didn’t really need that water then?” Toni asked, moving once again to switch the light off. Cheryl shook her head and neatly slipped under the covers. “You’re sensational, you know that, right?”

“So I’ve been told.” That warm and bubbly feeling started to rumble in her chest again. Almost as if she were a volcano and her weirdly uncertain feelings were molten magma. She kind of hoped they’d never turn to lava, spewing out and burning everything in their path. Toni hit the lights and Cheryl felt the bed shift beneath her. 

“Goodnight, Bombshell,” the Serpent whispered, tugging at the covers. Cheryl felt Toni’s hand brush the side of her pant leg. Her heart swooped. 

“Goodnight, Cha Cha.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MAN OH MAN. Cheryl desperately wanting to cuddle with Toni is me though. Expect fluff levels to rise tf up in these upcoming chapters. Alright dinguses, I'll see you in the next chapter wooooooo. Once again, comments are always appreciated, you guys are so nice and your words really do give me motivation <3 <3 <3
> 
> Tumblr/twitter: neptuneclarke


	8. Jealousy is a Disease. Get Well Soon, Bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst says hello. Cheryl has a weird ass dream. Feelings are confirmed? Varchie will literally fuck anywhere. Bughead drama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK SNACKS. Take a gander at this mini angsty chapter. But hey, I'll let you in on a teeny weeny secret. At the end of this chapter c;

She had to run. 

Something horrifyingly monstrous was staggering behind her, threatening to cut her life short. Cheryl tore down the empty school halls, twitchy lights buzzing overhead. Most of the hallway was dark, save for a few patches of yellowed luminescent lights. 

She felt like she couldn’t get enough oxygen. Whatever it was, was right behind her now, plotting to stuff her into a locker, or shove her into a corner, or slice her throat at the drop of a dime. She didn’t know what the fuck it was. A ghoulie? The Sugarman? Some deranged kid?

All she knew was that she had to run. 

So run she did. And thank _god_ she wasn’t in her signature red heels. Cheryl probably would’ve twisted an ankle. And that would’ve led to her ultimate demise. 

For now, her heart hammered in her chest, beating only out of fear, her lungs screaming as if they were on fire. Iciness pulsed through her veins like she was some kind of weirdly cool superhero. Like Frozone. If only Cheryl actually had his powers (and super suit) at the moment. 

But for now, all she had was herself. And a dead end at the end of the hall. Since when did this specific hall have a dead end? Confused, Cheryl spun around, wildly searching for an exit. A heavily breathing figure of the shadows approached her slowly. 

The ginger’s breath caught in her throat. This was it. This was how it was all going to end. Her, Cheryl Blossom, destined to be murdered in the halls of Riverdale High. How ironic to die in the place she was worshipped. Cheryl pressed herself against the tight row of lockers, wishing she was chameleon to blend in with her surroundings. 

But she wasn’t. And the figure had finally arrived; tall, dark, and…fluffy? 

Cheryl blinked slowly. She _had_ to be hallucinating. There was no way…But yes, in fact, there was a giant stuffed panda in front of her. But then suddenly her confusion cleared like mist on a sunny day and she instead watched it with curiosity. The hall lights brightened as if someone had flipped a switch on a set stage, musty lights bathing Cheryl and the panda. 

“Who are you?” Cheryl asked, reaching a hand out to stroke the panda’s fur. The velvety soft hairs beneath her fingertips smoothed with the touch. “Madelaine,” a voice boomed, the panda’s mouth still clamped shut. Cheryl looked around confused, trying to locate the origin of the answer.

Before she could, however, she was suddenly being engulfed in a giant fluffy hug, fur smothering her face so much, that she felt as though she were choking on it. Actually, come to think of it, she really couldn’t fucking breathe. 

Cheryl’s eyes finally popped open, her head buried somewhere dark enough so that she couldn’t tell what time it was. Something heavy held her midsection in place, anchoring her to the bed. 

A dream. It was all just a freakishly weird dream. Huh. 

She still couldn’t breathe. Wrenching herself free from the spot where she was being held hostage seemed to prove its difficulties. Cheryl lifted her head just enough to realize that she and Toni had been sleeping facing each other, Toni’s arm draped sleepily over her waist. And it turns out, the “fur” smothering the ginger’s face was actually the Serpent’s hair…Because Cheryl had been snuggled up in the crook of her neck. 

Um. Cheryl hadn’t been this close to another human being in _years_. Not since Heather…Actually, come to think of it, that was probably the last time she’d been snuggled up to someone. Well, until her mother caught them in the same bed together. The gates of hell had been flung open, her mother no less than an enraged, fire-spitting, wing beating, horrendous flaming dragon of wrath and fury. But that was a repressed memory. Something she’d spent such a long time burying in the realms of her memories. 

In the present, her mother wasn’t here to call her deviant. No, Penelope was probably at home, fucking a strange man at this very moment. By the end of the month, she’d probably break the world record for the amount of sex she was having. Or maybe the most orgasms. Ew, god, why was she even thinking about that? Cheryl screwed up her nose, breathing softly as not to wake the sleeping girl next to her. 

Toni’s breath, however, tickled the cheek that was patched up with a bandage on the ginger. She relished in this peaceful moment, the pink-haired girl’s arm still wrapped firmly around her. There was only about two or three inches of space between them. Honestly, Cheryl could probably shift her head upwards just a _tiny bit_ and their foreheads would be pressed together. _Or_ she could just…tilt her chin up a little…tip her head back…meet Toni’s lips in a second…They were _right there_. But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. 

Part of her wanted to. Like, _really wanted_ to. But the other part was completely terrified. What if she rejected her? What if the whole Heather nightmare came around full circle? What if her mother found out and decided to dump her off at the lowkey gay conversion camp in the Sisters of Quiet Mercy? What if she fucked everything up?

She’d never been in a relationship before. Maybe it was partly due to the fact that everyone within her radius would scurry away at the sight of her. They probably looked at her like she was some evil queen or something. Like Regina Mills from Once Upon a Time. But even Regina had her character development and turned from darkness to light. 

But it wasn’t like Cheryl was secretly plotting to commit genocide. Or to poison people. Or to curse them. Come to think of it, the only similarity that she truly saw was that they were both pining after the cute badass girl in a leather jacket. I mean, that’s at least how Cheryl saw it. #SwanQueenShouldHaveBeenEndgame

Hayley Kiyoko’s song, “Sleepover”, was pretty much the perfect embodiment of the flurry of emotions and feelings spinning around Cheryl’s head. She was just a confused little bean.

Suddenly Toni shifted beside her, their foreheads _actually_ bumping and knocking the Serpent awake. Her bleary eyes slowly opened, and the first thing that came into focus was the flaming redhead in front of her. Toni smiled weakly, fatigued in her tired state. 

“Morning,” she mewled, her voice crackly. It was so fucking domestic that all Cheryl wanted to do was pull her in closer and cover her face in morning kisses. Except, what the fuck, they were supposed to be friends, and Cheryl really needed to stop fantasizing about this stuff. 

“Did you sleep okay?” Toni’s arm still held Cheryl, the Serpent making no move to retract it. Cheryl was hyperaware of this. “Actually, it was the best sleep I’ve had in ages. Minus the weirdly philosophical dream I had.” 

Toni stuck her free hand behind her bedraggled head and leaned on her palm. “What sort of dream? It wasn’t like, bad was it? A nightmare?”

“At first, it kind of was. But then I got smothered by a giant panda bear named Madelaine, so how could that be bad?” Toni’s face pinkened and she snaked her hand away from Cheryl’s waist. The ginger was super close to pouting, but stopped herself, her mother’s words bouncing around in her head. She wasn’t deviant. Still, she couldn’t shake the disappointment that pooled in her stomach. 

“You had a dream about my stuffed animal?” The serpent threw her arm behind her, grabbing a plush panda bear. Its fur was all scruffy and dirty, one of the beaded eyes lower than the other. It looked so loved. Cheryl couldn’t help the smile creeping onto her face at the thought of Toni still cuddling with stuffed animals even though they were in high school. 

The shorter girl held the bear out in front of her, the snout nearly colliding with Cheryl’s nose. “Hewwo Cheryl. It’s _bear_ -y nice to meet you,” she cooed, moving the bear as if it were talking. Cheryl rolled her eyes smiling instead of responding back. She thought she’d look stupid talking back to the plush. 

“Boop!” Toni stretched the bear further until its plastic nose bumped with Cheryl’s. She couldn’t help it. This whole damn ploy was adorable. The ginger batted the panda away so that she could once again see Toni’s face. “J’adore your sleepy panda bear voice. It’s adorkable.” 

“Oh wow, look who’s being weirdly nice this morning. You must want something,” Toni joked, tossing Madelaine over her shoulder and snuggling deeper into the blankets.

_Yeah_ , Cheryl thought, her eyes tracing over Toni’s face. They paused on her lips. _You_.

The Serpent blinked up at her, expecting an answer along the lines of wanting breakfast, to skip school, or frankly more sleep. But Cheryl stayed quiet, her heart burning up a storm in her chest. Toni was RIGHT FREAKING THERE. She was gonna do it. 

No she wasn’t. 

YES SHE WAS.

NO SHE WASN’T. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

“I do want something,” Cheryl started, mustering up as much courage as she could (which wasn’t much, she was hecking terrified). Well, fake it til ya make it, right? She scooched ever so slightly underneath the covers, hitting Toni’s kneecap with her own. Cheryl (with as little confidence as she had) gazed longingly into the shorter girl’s eyes, willing for her to understand the secret unspoken message. 

Oh fuck, she really was about to do this. Cheryl propped herself up on an elbow, never once breaking eye contact. It was suddenly way too hot under the blanket. But that only fueled the burning desire to lean down and kiss the little snake club member below her. 

Except, she didn’t get the chance. There was a loud banging on the door followed by an impatient Sweet Pea barreling into the room. “Fangs made cinnamon rolls! If you guys want any, you better hurry before we eat them all!” He paused suddenly, just now seeing how impeccably close the two girls were. A knowing grin spread across his face. 

“I’ll just…” He winked, backing out of the room and throwing them finger guns. Toni swiped the pillow out from underneath her head and forcefully threw it over her face. “He’s such an ass sometimes,” she mumbled, her voice muffled from the cushion. 

Cheryl was mortified, an intense blush scorching her face. She’d almost done it. She’d been so damn close. Maybe Sweet Pea had saved her from a potential rejection. Maybe he didn’t. She didn’t know. 

Toni kicked the blankets from herself and stretched softly. “Better go grab a cinnamon roll before those idiots eat them all. Because I know they will.” She rose and hopped over Cheryl, landing with a gentle thump beside the bed. “I’ll be out in a second,” the ginger answered meekly. 

The Serpent shrugged and pushed her way out of the room leaving Cheryl to lie in her own embarrassment. She flopped back into the bed and threw an arm over her eyes. Her body felt as though it were trapped in quicksand, inevitably sinking lower and lower until she could feel no more. 

God, she was such an idiotic deviant. 

\--

Um, holy crap, did Cheryl freaking Blossom almost try to kiss her this morning??? Toni’s mind was buzzing as she stood in the bathroom, one leg in her leather pants, the other bare and waiting. She shimmied into them and rested a palm on the sink. 

No, there was no way in hell she would’ve. Was Cheryl…gay? Ugh, Toni seriously didn’t know. Usually she could tell. But with Cheryl, everything was hidden. Odds were, the ginger probably wasn’t, and it was probably better that way. Especially with her after school plans today…

When she finally pulled herself and her outfit together, and wiped the leftover cinnamon roll icing from the corner of her lips, she stepped breezily out into the hall and into the kitchen. Of course she’d let Cheryl borrow a few articles of clothing. And Toni had to admit, gay or not, the redhead looked smokin’ in her outfit. It was actually pretty hot that she was wearing _Toni’s_ clothes. 

She bit her lip and looked Cheryl up and down, catching her eye when her gaze flitted over the taller girl’s top. “Look at you, rockin’ my clothes. And to think, you were just making fun of them last week.”

“Please,” Cheryl scoffed playfully, eyeing Toni’s outfit as well. “I wasn’t making fun of your clothes. I was making fun of _you_.” The Serpent smirked, glad that their hatred for one another had slipped away. It was way too much work trying to conjure up award winning comebacks to use against the ginger. 

She grabbed her bag from the kitchen chair and swung it over her shoulder. “It’s a shame you brought the Thunderbird over here. I would’ve loved to see you on my motorcycle,” Toni gushed, trying hard to catch an emotion shift in Cheryl’s eyes. If she could just overanalyze her in order to see if this…whatever it was she wanted between them…could work out. 

But Cheryl merely huffed, turning away from the girl. “Sorry, Cha Cha. I don’t do things with two wheels. Plus, you’d be driving, so there’s a possibility we’d drive off of a cliff and right into Sweetwater. And I like to be in control.” Toni couldn’t help but choke back a laugh at the last sentence. Of course she liked to be _in control_. 

“What?” Cheryl demanded, seeing the smirking grin locked onto Toni’s lips. The pink-haired girl merely shrugged the question off, Cheryl tugging fiercely at her backpack straps. “Well, I know how late you usually are, so I’m going to leave now. See you in art I guess.”

“Try not to drive off a cliff and into Sweetwater!” Toni called after her, watching the mop of red hair disappear out of the screen door. She frowned as the door automatically swung back with a loud slam. “So,” Sweet Pea sauntered up beside her and casually leaned against the wall. “What’s going on with you two? I feel like I barged in at exactly the wrong moment this morning.”

The shorter girl glanced up at the Serpent, not quite meeting his eyes. “Nothing’s going on. We’re just two new friends…getting to know each other.” Sweet Pea poked her in the ribs, “Yeah, getting to _know each other_ real well in that bed, huh?”

“It’s not like that, Pea. So drop it. Plus, I have that stupid Tinder date after school today. Cheryl’s just a friend. I think that’s what she really needs right now.”

“Uh huh,” Sweet Pea grinned, his smile obviously radiating off the fact that he didn’t believe a single word she said. Except the Tinder date. She had the receipts to prove that. But ugh, her mind was already so cloudy with Cheryl this and feelings that. She just needed to ride, feel the wind ruffle her body, play with her hair. And most of all, she wanted to forget how easily Cheryl had slipped through her fingers, not even glancing back at her as she left this morning. 

That stung a little. She thought they had bonded. Maybe Cheryl wasn’t so different from the image she self-proclaimed in the school halls. Toni sighed and grabbed her helmet, tucking it neatly under her arm. “Where’s Fangs?”

Sweet Pea pushed himself from the wall and plucked his Serpents jacket from its hook. “Pretty sure he’s in the bathroom sending nudes.” In one clean sweep, the jacket was tossed behind him and pulled up to hug his frame. 

“Already? It’s only like,” Toni peeked at the old rustic clock ticking away on the wall. “Eight. Let me guess…Kevin?” 

“I wouldn’t doubt it. Look at our little boy all grown up. Sending raunchy nudes to other boys.” Sweet Pea mimicked the iconic scene in Home Alone when Kevin slapped his face after applying aftershave. He even let out a teeny wail. Toni giggled and smacked him lightly, moving towards the door. 

“Well, he’ll probably be at least another ten minutes. I’m gonna go ahead and go now though. Can’t have too many tardies on the permanent record.” She reached for the door handle as Sweet Pea clucked his tongue behind her. She threw him a quizzical look over his shoulder, her eyebrows knitting together at the stupid grin on his face. 

“Go get her, T.”

\--

Sketching away already at the art table, Cheryl couldn’t help feeling the knot in her stomach build. She kept replaying the morning scene over and over again in her mind, the same punch of disappointment clocking her in the gut every single time. She’d been so close to knowing how the other girl felt. But of course, like every tv show, movie, novel, or fanfiction, their kiss had been stopped before it had even begun. 

All thanks to Sweet Piss. Then again, maybe he _had_ saved her from rejection. There was no denying the awkward tension over breakfast. Cheryl kept to herself, eating a cinnamon roll and watching Teeth Boy disappear into the bathroom every five minutes. Every time he came back out, Cheryl noticed that his fly was always down, his eyes glued to his phone. Even at the kitchen table, his thumbs danced across the screen, cinnamon rolls long forgotten. 

It seemed as though the whole ice cream shop ordeal had been forgotten too. Sweet Pea’s eye was still swollen black and blue. He and Toni spent the duration of breakfast discussing detail work on their motorbikes. Cheryl had tuned them out, staring off into space, stuffing her face with cinnamon-y goodness.

And now here she was, alone at the art table. Seemed like an ironic situation. They’d been forced to dually complete an art project, yet, she’d always feel alone at the expansive art table. It was just so vast and empty. Like her soul. 

Today’s sketch had to incorporate room interiors. God, Cheryl fucking hated those. There were so many lines and the vanishing points on the horizons always seemed to _actually_ disappear underneath all of them. It just jumbled up her mind and she hated that. 

They were tasked to create an imaginary room. Mr. Patrillo had shown an example of a room lit up with arcade games and decked out with neon signs and various gaming and pool tables. It was pretty neat, but definitely not in Cheryl’s taste. Although she had only been in class for about ten minutes, she already had a progressive start on the assignment. 

First she’d drawn a bed, the right side pushed up against the corner of the room. A simple dresser already accompanied it. Plus, there was the beginning of a door sketch _just_ in front of the bed. You know, in case someone decided to come in to ruin a perfectly good moment to kiss your new friend. 

Shit. She’d totally sketched Toni’s room. Without even thinking, she quickly penciled in a small panda bear on top of the bed. Once that was finished, she decided to add a little more detail to the dresser and sketched a little black t-shirt hanging out of one of the drawers. In fact, she was so totally engrossed in her work that she barely even registered that her tablemate had plopped down beside her. “Whatcha working on?”

Shit. Fuck. Shitfuck. 

Cheryl shifted her arm so that the bed was hidden from Toni’s curious gaze. “Room study.” She nodded her head in the direction of the whiteboard which had the assignment written on it. Toni pulled her sketchbook from her bag in Cheryl’s peripheral vision and put her pencil to the page. 

The ginger shaded the same spot for a while, not yet prepared to move her arm. Beside her, Toni tap tap tapped her pencil on the table, humming an incomprehensible tune. God, she was so cute. 

Stop it. 

Stop it, stop it, stop it.

The shading got darker as Cheryl’s fist grew tenser around her sweat covered pencil. She seriously needed to stop thinking these idiotic thoughts. Of course Toni wasn’t interested in her _like that_. Cheryl probably only wanted her to be because she was one of the only people in her life that had actually cared about her and given her the much needed attention she so necessarily sought after. 

But still, she couldn’t help feeling that resonating ache in her chest that practically begged her to be joined at the hip with Toni at all times. She stole a quick glance at the pink-haired girl who smiled up at her expectantly. 

“Are you busy after school?” She suddenly blurted, her pencil clattering to the table. “I-I mean if you want to work on the art projects. I have an idea for mine now. A creative one. But not using ketchup. Not that poor people paint, huh?” She laughed nervously, well aware that she was rambling. Only Toni Topaz could make the ginger blush so often.

“Um, actually, I do have plans after school today. I’m sorry,” Toni disclosed. Cheryl’s entire body deflated as if she were a balloon that had suddenly been popped. “Oh. What kind of plans? Think they’ll take all night?”

Toni shifted uncomfortably in her chair and scraped some of her loose hair behind her ear. “I have a Tinder date tonight. Nothing fancy, just a dinner and a movie, so…” Cheryl’s eyes darted back and forth between Toni’s. Was she hearing that correctly? A freaking Tinder date?

“Right.” She made a grab for her pencil, a clammy fist squeezing it as tight as possible. “Well, I hope you two have loads of fun. Hopefully your date won’t turn out to be some crazy psycho killer in a black hood or something. They’ll probably end up being some crack house junkie and steal what little cash you have right off your body.” 

“Excuse me? Gee, sorry you’re so uninformed of how Tinder dates work out, but I can tell you right now that the girl I’m seeing tonight is far from a crack house junkie. She actually seems super sweet.” Toni didn’t even look up from her drawing as she flung her words back at the girl. 

Cheryl was fuming, almost as frustrated as she was the day this whole mess started. “Congratulations. When’s the wedding date?” She fired back, her grip so tight on the pencil that it was seconds away from splintering down the middle. The Serpent finally dropped her own and looked up at the ginger. 

“Cheryl, I don’t know why you’re getting so bent out of shape over this whole thing. I told you I was busy. It didn’t work out. We can work on the project tomorrow or something, okay?”   
Cheryl’s entire body tingled with little angry pops and sizzles. She clenched her teeth, forcefully trapping her words on her tongue. Yeah, she was pissed, but she didn’t want to ruin what little friendship the two had left. “Fine,” she scowled, bringing both hands up to the top of her head. She rested her elbows on the table and closed her eyes for a beat. It was nice to shut the world out sometimes. 

“Is that…my room?” The voice next to her asked. Cheryl’s eyes snapped open and she rushed to cover the drawing up again once more. “Uh, no. It’s just a random room. Not everything is about you, Cha Cha.” Toni narrowed her eyes, looking between Cheryl and the covered up sketchbook. “Sure seems like it is.”

And that’s when Cheryl tore the paper from her sketchpad and crumpled up into a tiny heated ball of rage. She stood abruptly, grabbed her little backpack, marched to the garbage can, and forcefully threw it in. Had this been a cartoon, the wad of paper totally would have caught fire from the speed at which she had thrown it into the trash. Mr. Patrillo looked up from his work, glasses sliding to the end of his nose. 

“Is there a problem, Ms. Blossom?” He asked, folding his hands neatly over his desk. He had that stupid ‘I don’t really care about any of your problems’ look that most teachers got when they questioned her behavior. “I just have to powder my nose,” she fumed, scribbling her name down on the bathroom sign out sheet. He watched her leave and shook his head, sighing as he returned to his work. 

As soon as she had made it to the girl’s bathroom, Cheryl threw open a stall and quickly locked it. There was no way she’d ever sit down on the nasty school toilets. She was pretty sure Midge Klump had thrown up in one of the toilets on a rare occasion where she had shown up drunk to school. That was right after Moose had dumped her for some emo boy. 

For now, the ginger simply leaned against the stall, breathing heavily. 

Toni had a Tinder date. 

Oh my god, she was such an idiot. It all made sense now. Of course Toni had only seen her as a charity case. All those messages she had read wrong. All those assumptions she had made…  
This is why Cheryl never let herself be seen as vulnerable. Every time she put herself out there, she just got shot down, a bullet to the heart. Funny that Toni had leant her a Bon Jovi t-shirt. She sure was feeling that shot to the heart right about now. 

But seriously? Tinder? To go out on a date with a complete stranger? When Cheryl was right here, in the flesh, getting to know Toni? Ugh, it made her so frustrated. So that almost kiss this morning…

She would’ve been rejected. Oh my god. She would’ve been mortified. That would probably be even worse than a slap on the wrist from her mother. More like a giant slap across the face. Maybe she should tattoo gullible on her forehead so people had a warning. 

Cheryl really didn’t want to go back to art class. She didn’t think she could stand knowing the girl she’d accidentally caught feelings for was going to go out canoodling another girl tonight. But standing here in the bathroom was fucking disgusting. She could almost taste the dirty scents hovering about the air like drunken strangers. 

Unlatching the filthy lock, Cheryl quickly shoved the stall door open and collapsed into the sink. Her reflection in the mirror stared hauntingly at her. She looked rough. The dreaded under eye bags although she’d had the best sleep of her life. Her pursed frown. Gritted teeth. UGH!

She shoved herself away from the mirror and stalked over to the entrance. Backpack snug against her shoulders, she realized that her sketchbook and pencils were still in the art room. Whatever, she could always pick them up later or wait until tomorrow to grab them. For now, however, she was headed to the common room, where she knew she could steam silently in the presence of Veronica. They both had a free second period that was always spent there. 

Cheryl didn’t know if she wanted to rant to her or not. She just…didn’t know what to feel. 

\--

There they all were. The core four. And no, not the rightful core four that included Sweet Pea, Toni, Cheryl, and Fangs. No, this core four was Veronica, Archie, Betty, and Jughead. Plus Cheryl. But of course, she was never important enough to be included in the main squad. It was total bullshit. 

Anyway, it turned out that Betty, Jughead, and Archie’s class had a substitute teacher who didn’t give a fuck, so he sent them to the common room for the period. And now, Cheryl was stuck with the four of them, unable to express her concerns to Veronica. Not that she’d disclose much information. Just the seething jealousy igniting in her chest. She felt as though someone was shoveling coal into her mouth, the raging flame hungrily devouring it. 

But for now, she had her nose in her phone, Veronica and Archie snuggled up to one another on the couch, Betty and Jughead to her right in a minimal argument. She tried tuning them out. That is, until the word “ghoulies” popped up.

“Fangs wants to round up as many Serpents as possible to take down the Ghoulies this week. Did you hear they robbed that little ice cream shop just out of town?” Jughead tucked his bangs underneath his hat, a hand resting on Betty’s knee. “Yeah, Jug, I did. But you going out there to help them? You remember what happened the last time you got together with the Serpents.”

Cheryl watched his frown deepen. “That was different. We’re a family and together we’d be able to at least catch the idiots who were involved. Plus, with my dad stepping up as the leader again, the gang will have a newfound bond. It’ll make us even stronger and it’ll make taking the Ghoulies down even easier.” Betty flicked her ponytail, throwing her hands up in the air. 

“And if something happens to go wrong and you get hurt? I can’t stand knowing you’re out there, what, beating up some other guys, and getting beaten up yourself? It’s just problematic, Jug. Don’t you think you should just leave it alone for once? It already happened and it’s not like you can magically go back in time and stop it. I mean, what if Penny’s working with them?”   
Cheryl tried burying herself in her Instagram feed, wishing Bughead would stop with their weekly bickering. It was so tiring listening to them argue. But, she’d rather listen to that then be forced to hear the sweet nothings Varchie were whispering to each other. Gag.

“Daddy’s out for a business deal tonight and my mom’s accompanying him to the proposition, Archiekins…Which means you don’t even have to _sneak_ into the Pembrooke tonight.” Veronica waltzed her fingers up the ginger football player’s arm. “If you’re up for another _long night_.” Again. Gag. 

“Of course, Ronnie. You know I could never pass up an offer like that,” Archie grinned, pulling Veronica closer to him. They shared a kiss. And another. And, oh. That did not look like an “appropriate for school” kiss. 

Cheryl thumbed through the pictures on her feed, turning her attention away from the gross couple. She stopped on a Buzzfeed Tasty video and watched as a pair of hands mixed up cake batter. She quickly swiped up, reminded harshly of the cake Toni had made the day before. A video of a kitten batting at a fork by **bestmeow** popped up and Cheryl felt her heart melt. Don’t tell anyone, but kittens were totally Cheryl’s biggest weakness.

She’d always wanted one but her hideous mother never allowed it. Mangy fleabags her mother had called them. Nothing but twitchy nuisances. That never stopped Cheryl for pleading for one as a child every time Christmas rolled around. Santa never brought her the one thing she truly wanted from her wishlist. Actually, come to think of it, her mother had always convinced her that she was on the Naughty List, stuffing her stocking full of coal each year.

Whatever. As soon as Cheryl turned eighteen she was going to move out, use the money her father had left for her and Jason, rent or buy a nice place, and adopt a damn kitten. For someone who used to dream of owning a kitten for most of their life, she hadn’t even concocted the best name for it. Yeah, she had a long mental list of possible names. But none really stood out to her.

She continued to scroll, occasionally distracted by a periodic cooking or slime video. 

“I’m just saying, sometimes the Serpents can be nonsensical and thoughtless. Just look how they treated me after I helped them on numerous occasions. I mean, I helped find the Pickens statue’s head and got FP early parole. And yet they still see me as the ‘Northside Princess’.” 

Were Betty and Jughead _still_ at this whole Ghoulie/Serpent back and forth? Ugh. Usually Cheryl lived for drama but this tea was far from hot. It was iced, left in the freezer until it froze over. They literally fought over the stupidest things. 

“Look, they have their moments, but again, we’re like a giant family. I need to do this, Betty. When I completed my initiation, I made a promise to protect and serve with them. I can’t just back out now.” Jughead’s whiney voice was giving Cheryl a headache. 

Betty scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. “Yes, you can, Jug. It’s not like you’re eternally bound to them forever. What, you’re just going to be in a gang for the rest of your life?” The blonde suddenly turned to face Cheryl, her swishing ponytail nearly putting out Jughead’s eyes. “Back me up on this, Cheryl. The Serpents are incredibly thickheaded and always putting themselves in gratuitous danger.”

“Betty only states facts,” Cheryl shrugged, not caring about the conversation in the least. Suddenly, the surge of jealousy and frustration came rushing back to her. “In fact, they’re nothing more than a silly little children’s group of make believe wannabes. Inane really. I’m surprised those underachievers wormed their way into our school to deface what little celebrity status we have. Riverdale High’s above average GPA really has suffered from those lackwit ragamuffins.”

“Why don’t you come over here and say that to my face.”

Uh oh. 

Cheryl spun around, her stomach dropping to the floor. She knew that voice anywhere. Toni, Sweet Pea, and Fangs all stood behind her couch, arms crossed and glares burning holes through her. It seemed like time had frozen, everyone in the room stiff and silent. Even Veronica and Archie had paused their little make out session. 

She couldn’t appear weak in front of everyone. She just couldn’t. “Happily, Queen of the Buskers,” Cheryl smarted, standing and moving towards the Serpent trio. She caught Toni by the arm and pulled her off to the side, away from listening ears. As soon as they were both out of earshot, Cheryl dropped the act, puppy dog eyes gazing up at the girl. “I’m sorry.”

Toni cast her face to the side, arms folded tightly over her chest. She ignored what she believed to be a faux apology from the ginger. “I cancelled my Tinder date.”

All of Cheryl’s anger and frustration suddenly melted away, an overwhelming sense of guilt washing over her. Toni had…cancelled?

“You know, I thought I had you all figured out,” the Serpent goaded, not giving Cheryl the opportunity to speak. “Turns out you’re just how you want everyone else to see you.” She turned away from the ginger, stalking back to Sweet Pea and Fangs. “Toni, wait, I-”

“Forget it. I’m just an underachieving lackwit ragamuffin who probably wouldn’t understand a word you’re saying with my _below average GPA_.” She nodded to the other two Serpents and they were quick to storm out of the common room. Cheryl watched her go, the pink two space buns on top of her head bobbing to match her strides. 

Jealousy was such an ugly color on Cheryl, and she didn’t wear it well. But that emotion had quickly subsided, fading like a beach bucket left out in the sun too long. She almost felt as though she could throw up, the guilt and panic too much to bear. It was overwhelming and she didn’t have anyone left to turn to. 

\--

**New Message to Cha Cha:**  
Cheryl:  
Can we talk? Please?  
…  
Cheryl:  
I’m sorry okay? I have no excuse for those stupid things I said. Will you just give me a chance to explain myself?  
…  
Cheryl:  
Dammit cha cha i know you have your phone. Please answer me  
…  
Cheryl:  
If you keep ignoring me ill tell everyone you sleep with a panda bear stuffed animal named madelaine  
…  
Cheryl:  
Sorry. U know I wouldnt do that. ugh that was a stupid thing to say. Just…call me okay?  
…  
Cheryl:  
Toni? 

As soon as she’d gotten home, Cheryl had immediately texted the Serpent. But, alas, to no avail, Toni hadn’t replied. Maybe she didn’t have any data. Or cell service. Or maybe she didn’t have her phone with her. Or she dropped off the face of the Earth. Or ditched technology altogether. 

All she wanted the other girl to do was call her. That’s it. She’d spill everything. Apologize for how stupid she’d been. Because it really was stupid. She’d gotten jealous, worked up, and spewed her frustrations out like an active volcano. Cheryl had ruined the only good thing in her life. 

And for what? Just because Toni was simply living her life? She barely knew the girl. If this were anybody else, Cheryl wouldn’t have apologized. But now, here she was, throwing herself to her knees, ready to beg for forgiveness. That’s just how much she cared. 

She was lying on top of her unmade bed, hands cradling her phone like it was a sensitive grenade or something. Honestly, at this point, it kind of was. God, she felt so miserable. Swiping her headphones from the little nightstand beside her bed, Cheryl tapped open her Spotify and clicked on her Depression playlist. 

Out of all the damn songs in her playlist, ‘Wish You Still Felt This Way’ by 90sFlav started playing. Her pulse quickened, nose starting to sting. She was like a tornado. Destroying anything and everything in her path. Creating disasters and destruction. Sucking the life out of people. 

Cheryl squeezed her eyes shut feeling lifeless in her body. It was more of a deadweight now, sadness curling her fingers protectively over her phone. She was waiting for that little buzz that would notify her of an incoming text. Hours seemed to pass before the little piece of technology hummed to life in her hands. 

She quickly sat up, fear and anticipation grappling her throat. One notification sat on her home screen, staring mockingly up at her. 

**the kevinthwonder started a live video. Watch before it ends!**

God, her heart was aching so bad. She blinked slowly at the screen before setting it down gently on the bed. If Toni wasn’t answering her texts or calls, then there was only one thing left to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO WRITING THE CHAPTER YOU DINGUSES REALLY ARE GONNA DIE! And don't fret, every good love story needs a little angst now and then. So, between now and when I update next, prepare yourselves ;) And thank you so much for all of the glorious comments and kudos <3 <3 <3 Shout out to chonifillsmylungs for that amazing last comment and inspiring me to finish the chapter today. UNTIL NEXT TIME...
> 
> Tumblr/Twitter: neptuneclarke


	9. I'll Take You to the Ice Cream Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourselves. That's all I'm saying c;

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll have you all know that I was eating wings while writing this chapter and now my keyboard is covered in buffalo garlic parm sauce. BUT. Here it is. What all you dinguses have been waiting for. No spoilers from me. SO WHY ARE YOU WASTING TIME READING THIS NOTE?! GET TO READING THAT CHAPTER YOU CHONI LOVERS!!!

Toni had canceled her date. Toni had _canceled_ her _date_. For _Cheryl_. 

She’d chosen hanging out with the ginger over potentially meeting her soulmate. Holy crap. Why was Cheryl just now realizing this?

Think of a time when you were at your worst, feeling like shit over something you did or didn’t do. Maybe you ditched plans with someone to do something else. Or maybe you forgot about those plans entirely. Or you ruined someone’s life over something so stupid and petty. Or drunk texted someone and regretted it the next morning. 

Or, in Cheryl’s case, you got too jealous and smashed something so precious that you shared with another human being. So, yeah. She felt like a giant jerk. Scratch that. A _mega_ jerk. A super ultra mega jerk.

How, after a lifetime of being the HBIC and tearing others down, did this one little incident affect her so much? 

Because Toni cared.

She _cared_.

And something inside of Cheryl’s brain had just clicked that into place. That’s why, at 4:30 in the afternoon, she’d snuck out of Thistle House and was currently driving towards the little ice cream shop just out of town. She’d called ahead just to make sure they were open. You know. Since the Ghoulie robbery. 

And yes, they were open, not letting fear shine through. The Ghoulies had robbed them, yes, but they were still going to try their best to keep the joint running. Not only was the shop special to Toni, it was also special to Cheryl. It was her hideaway place. The one true location she could run to and feel safe. Plus, again, their cherry dark chocolate ice cream was da bomb. 

But today, she was not running there for solace and herself. No, right now, she’d put her own wants and needs at the back of her mind. Toni was currently occupying the front, her brain on autopilot as it steered the Thunderbird down the road towards the shop. 

She was in such a hurry, hoping to snag a frozen treat and make it back to Toni’s just in case the Serpent had changed her mind and actually went out on the Tinder date. As soon as her ride was parked, Cheryl scrambled out of the driver’s side and towards the little window on the side of the building. “Small chocolate and vanilla swirl with cookie crunch please,” she huffed, slinging her mini backpack off her shoulder and down her arm. 

Cheryl fished a hand into the bag, pushing past numerous cases of oil paint and brushes to get to her wallet. She leaned against the sill, a five dollar bill clenched in her sweaty palm. Her foot tapped impatiently as the older woman behind the window slowly swirled the ice cream into its cone. _Finally_ , the window was pushed open and the ice cream was being handed to her. 

She quickly swapped the five for the dessert, the old woman eyeing her curiously. “Keep the change,” Cheryl rushed her words, grabbing a fistful of napkins from the dispenser. The woman’s eyes grew causing the ginger’s eyebrows to furrow. “What, have you never received a tip for such slow service?” She asked, mostly out of frustration at how late she would be. 

But instead of answering her, the older employee simply raised a hand to her mouth, pointing a shaky finger somewhere behind Cheryl. The redhead spun on her heel, almost colliding into the puffed chest of a surly man. “What’ve we got ‘ere, Munchkin?”

She nearly dropped her ice cream cone. The man in front of her had a mop of curly, matted hair, black paint smeared around his eyes, much like a raccoon. It was nowhere near as neat as Lexa’s warpaint from The 100. And instead of the commander’s soft eyes, his were tiny and shining; little black beetles in a forest of eyelashes. 

A few other men approached, each carrying a large baseball bat-like stick, hammered nails jagged and threatening sticking out from the wood. 

Ghoulies. 

“Well?” The Ghoulie snarled, moving so close to her that she could feel his hot breath on her face. His eyes flicked down to the ice cream and then to her feet, trailing allllll the way back up to meet her eyes. 

Although she was scared, she wasn’t going to let it show. Especially not in front of an oaf of a man. “Obviously an ice cream cone,” Cheryl waggled it in her hand, taunting him like he was a dog. “Or did they not teach you the basic food groups in whatever run down elementary school you probably dropped out of?”

But instead of matching the reaction she thought he’d have, the Ghoulie only smirked. “Ah, you’re a feisty one, ain’t ya?” He reached a knobby hand out and grabbed her shoulder. “Hand over the ice cream.”

No! This was the only ticket she had to win Toni back. Well. That and whatever impromptu speech she was going to make on the way over to her trailer. She knew what she was feeling. She just didn’t know how to put it into words. 

But, back to the action, because this was way more urgent to deal with than a horribly crafted apology. “And if I don’t?” Cheryl tried her best to keep her voice steady, wishing she had a free hand to knock the Ghoulie’s off of her. Her skin itched beneath his touch and she felt that panic she’d had with the Chuck ordeal stir within her chest. 

The Ghoulie chuckled darkly, dipping his free hand into his jacket pocket. Out with his fist came a dirty looking pocket knife. It glinted in the sunlight, maybe wishing to show off to the ginger just how dangerous it could be. “If yeh don’t…” he sneered, drawing the knife closer to her face, “then I’m gonna take this knife here, and stick it in your neck.” He pressed it just gently enough to her throat for it to sting. “And then I’m gonna twist it around like one of them little windup toys so you won’t be able to scream for help.” Cheryl swallowed thickly against the blade, eyes burning. 

Ignoring the little voice in her head that told her to keep fighting for the ice cream, she thrust it towards him. This whole “life threatening incident” was wasting her precious “apologizing to Toni time”. Even though she had been threatened many times over, most of them spewing from her mother and coming true, she had been afraid of this one. But it wasn’t because she was at the hands of one of the most feared gangs in the area. 

It was because if she’d kept that ice cream cone, she never would’ve been able to tell Toni everything she wanted to tell her. 

So, at the edge of her mini breakdown, she let the Ghoulie take it. One more thing someone had so easily taken from her. He was the bully, the ice cream was the lunch money, and she was the pitiful kid, stickered in bruises from head to toe. 

The Ghoulie licked circles around the edge of the cone, eyes still trained on the ginger in front of him. “Smart girl,” he smirked, finally dropping the knife back into his pocket. Now that she was free from his tight grasp and very real threats, Cheryl began to inch backwards toward her car. 

As soon as she was out of his perimeter, she nabbed her phone from her bag and immediately punched Toni’s contact. She waited with the device pressed to her ear. A few tones played before there was a click on the line; a connection established. 

_“Cheryl?”_

“Toni, listen,” she leaned against the Thunderbird, digging through her bag as fast as she could. WHERE WERE THE DAMN KEYS??? She could barely breathe. “Ghoulies. They’re at the ice cream shop. I stopped here. For you. And I need to apologize, I-”

_“On my way,”_ her voice sounded panicked. _“Just try to get out of there, okay?”_

Yeah, that’d be easy. IF SHE COULD FIND HER FUCKING KEYS. “Okay,” Cheryl replied, her head thumping madly. “I just wanted to-” She stopped herself as soon as she heard the tone in her ear, the phone now dead silent. Her heart shattered like ice dropped on the kitchen floor. 

No. Toni had only hung up on her so she could hop on her bike and GET THE FUCK OVER HERE. She wouldn’t even need to if Cheryl could just locate her heckin’ keys. Oh my god, she should really invest in a giant keychain or a lanyard or something. 

Her searching was suddenly interrupted, however, as a massive hand clamped down once again on her shoulder. She whipped her head around to see the scruffy Ghoulie again, ice cream in hand, the pack of other Ghoulies trailing behind him like mangy hyenas. It reminded her of the “Be Prepared” song Scar sang in the Lion King. 

The Ghoulie’s lip was curled and Cheryl swore he had fangs like Mufasa’s younger brother. “Nice ride yeh got there,” he stated casually leaning against the side of the Thunderbird. Cheryl stiffened, eyeing him cautiously as his tongue danced over the ice cream. A long beat passed before his fist instantaneously smashed down on the top of her car. “Give me the keys.”

She shouldered away from him, her butt bumping into the door handle. “Not that I would, but I don’t think they allow mindless apes the clearance to operate moving vehicles.” Cheryl was spending every penny owned to her name to buy some time. Toni had to be here soon. Her hand had long since found the car keys and she was tempted to hop in and blast out of there. 

But she couldn’t just leave Toni alone with a pack of angry Ghoulies. So instead, she circled the car, the Scar-like Ghoulie slinking after her as if she were his prey. “You’re a funny little bitch,” he growled, dragging his hand over the car. “Remember that little thing I told yeh earlier? ‘Bout not giving me what I want?”

Oh my god she was gonna be sick. That sentence alone sent a flood of panic through her body. Disgust was right alongside, making her stomach churn. Cheryl stumbled over the rocky terrain, still moving in a circle around the Thunderbird. She’d almost made it back to the driver’s side. 

The head Ghoulie suddenly lurched forward and grabbed a fistful of her shirt. “What are yeh, deaf?” He tugged her backwards, his fist colliding with her side. She cringed internally, hoping that he didn’t notice the minor pain he’d just inflicted. Cheryl wriggled from his grasp and whipped around to face him. “I’m not deaf, you half baked potato.”

“Good. Then you heard my request. Now, do as I say, Munchkin, and no one gets hurt.” 

Fuck that. 

“Do you know who I am?” She demanded, taking a bold step forward, her eyes boring into his. “I’m Cheryl Blossom, AKA Cheryl Bombshell. Which means, I don’t have to abide to your implausible rules. You don’t scare me. In fact, I find your whole little act,” she swirled her finger around, pointing to him and the drooling mutts behind him, “to be quite a show. You think a teeny pocket knife and a little bit of horrendous eye makeup is going to scare people? Please. I’ve seen scarier characters on Glee. And that was Kurt Hummel dressed up as Lady Gaga.”

The Ghoulie’s mouth twitched, his eyes darkening. He flicked his head to the side; a silent confirmation between himself and the members of his pack. Grinding his fingers into a small fist, he took a step forward so that he popped Cheryl’s personal space bubble. “I don’t give a fuck who you are, babe. I really don’t even give a fuck what happens to you.” Another nod to the other Ghoulies. 

This time, two of the bigger guys approached her, each grabbing one of her arms tightly. She struggled against their grips, wrenching herself around until she was out of breath, her lungs heaving for oxygen. “You’ve got it all wrong. You say you aren’t scared now but wait till you’re squirming on the ground in the pool of your own blood.” Again, the pocket knife made a guest appearance as he pulled it from his jacket. “Keys. Now.”

They were right there in her fist. Snug like a bug in a rug. “They’re in the car,” she finally huffed, the Ghoulie’s hands around her arms much like blood pressure cuffs. They just kept getting tighter and tighter. She could feel her pulse against one of their clammy palms. 

Scar-like Ghoulie yanked open the car door and snuffled around the driver’s side. After a few seconds, his head reappeared, an enraged glare replacing the smarmy look from before. “Liar,” he snarled, rounding on her. With all the livid strength he could muster, he shoved her as hard as he could. She popped out of both Ghoulie’s grips and hit the gravel, keys springing from her fist. 

Her palms dug into the rocks, shards of stone cutting into her skin, as she watched a twisted grin form on his face. He gracefully plucked the keys from the rocks and swung them around on his finger. “Thanks for the sweet ride, Chiquita. Glad you didn’t put up too much of a fight.” He and his buddies shared a quick laugh followed by the five of them piling into the Thunderbird.

Cheryl hadn’t moved. Couldn’t move. Couldn’t even breathe. Had it not been for the lump in her throat, she probably would’ve been dry heaving. The Ghoulie stuck his head out of the window, his arm snug atop the sill. “Eat dust, bitch,” he cackled, peeling out of the ice cream shop parking lot. 

She didn’t even look up to see them leave. Her palms stung, but she kept them fitted against the rocks that bore into them. 

She’d lost everything. 

\--

“Just try to get out of there, okay?”

Without wasting another breath or second of time, Toni had ended the call, opting instead to dial Jughead’s number. She cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear, powerwalking towards the closed bathroom door. 

“Sweet Pea?” She knocked hurriedly and used her free ear to listen for a response. When there wasn’t one, she dramatically rolled her eyes. So help her she’d tear down the door and wrench the Serpent out of there, pants down and all. Toni needed help. Now.

“I’m takin’ a piss, what do you want, T?” 

_Sweet Piss. Huh._

“Cheryl’s in trouble. The Ghoulies are back at the ice cream place.” _Come on, Jughead_. She strained her ears to listen for the click as dial tone after dial tone rang against her head. Immediately, the bathroom door was flung open, a distilled Sweet Pea cracking his knuckles. “They never learn, do they?”

“Who never learns?”

Fangs had just made his way from the kitchen, a bowl of grapes balanced in his hands. He popped one into his mouth casually. How he couldn’t read the fear written all over Toni’s face, she didn’t know. “Damn Ghoulies,” Sweet Pea grumbled, shouldering past the pair to grab his leather jacket. “Cheryl’s there too.”

“Seems pretty ironic how she was trash talking the Serpents earlier and now she expects us to save her,” Fangs chided, plucking a particularly plump grape from its stem. Toni’s insides boiled, agitation and alarm taking reign of her actions. 

“Leave her out of this. We’ve all made mistakes. But right now, we’ve got to focus on the Ghoulie aspect of this mess-Jughead!”

He’d been connected through the line, thank god. “I need you to round up the Serpents and tell FP to meet us all at the ice cream shop…the one outside of town…yes, that one…and _hurry_.” Her hands were sweaty; an unusual addition to the iciness she felt spreading beneath her collarbone. 

God, she’d been so stupid. If she’d just picked up the phone. UGH, she was just trying to follow Dua Lipa’s New Rules. But now that Cheryl was in peril (ha, a rhyme…nice), she began to rethink everything that had went down today.

Slipping on her jacket, she was reminded of starting fresh this morning, an assumed almost kiss from the ginger, cinnamon rolls, and a morning bike ride to school. Then art class where everything had headed downhill. It was like a snowball effect. She’d let word slip that she had a Tinder date after school…Of course Cheryl was going to be jealous. 

Toni didn’t even know why she’d agreed to the date in the first place. To distract herself from the reality that the redhead was probably straight or not even into her? But now, she believed that wasn’t the case. 

Cheryl was so fragile, much like a little egg. She’d been cracked, but not broken enough for her insides to come spilling out in a torrent of yellow yolk. Except, maybe Toni had been the one to take a hammer to the shell when she dropped the bomb of revelation on her this morning. Then again, Cheryl wasn’t like most people.

It was a natural reaction to funnel anger and frustration out of jealously. To take the turmoil and spin it around so that it wouldn’t be resting on her shoulders alone. Cheryl’s harsh words were bent reflections of how she truly felt. Toni, one of the only people who had ever cared about her, had unintentionally rejected her. 

So it was a self-defense. She didn’t want Toni to see that she basically split her heart in two. So Cheryl had conjured flames of wrath to spit at the Serpent, hoping to conceal the part of herself she didn’t want the world to see. 

As soon as her Serpent jacket was snug around her frame, she scrambled down the trailer steps. Toni didn’t even waste time waiting for the slowpokes behind her. Even if it meant fighting 100 Ghoulies and getting beaten down herself, she’d do it. For Cheryl.

\--

Cheryl didn’t look up from the place where she sat as the distant sound of motorcycles sliced through the thick and silent air. She didn’t even budge when she felt the vibrations underneath her. The rumbling actually made the gravel lodged beneath her palms dig deeper into her skin. 

She couldn’t feel it though. She was too numb. Everything was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Her mother treated her like shit, she felt powerless at school, she’d ruined whatever was blossoming between her and Toni, the Thunderbird had been stolen…She’d been stripped of everything. And now, just like Natalie Imbruglia’s hit song, she was torn, out of faith, cold, shamed, and (neither naked nor lying) sitting on the floor. 

Tears slipped down her face, presumably watering the tiny weeds below that sprung up between the rock fissures. She fucked everything up. Always.

As soon as a shadow blanketed her, and the air became cooler, Cheryl finally looked up, bleary eyed and sniffling. “Toni?”

“We came to rescue you,” she stressed, urging the ginger to take her outstretched hand. Cheryl only stared at it as if it were some kind of prank. Like Toni would yank it away at the last second, laugh in her face, and Ashton Kutcher would jump out from behind a tree or something. “They took the Thunderbird,” she croaked, looking anywhere but the Serpent’s eyes. 

Toni stooped down beside her, concern contorting her face into a look of pure panic. “Oh my god…those bastards. Is that why you’re so upset? Did they…did they hurt you?” She studied the taller girl in front of her, inspecting her for any blatant wounds. If Cheryl’s tears were flowing slowly down her face like a lazy river before, now they were gushing, much like Yosemite Falls.

“I messed up,” the ginger sputtered, squeezing her eyes shut so that she wouldn’t have to look at the girl in front of her. “You…you’re so nice to me. And I don’t know why. I was such a bitch to you and yet…” Cheryl shook her head, probably flinging tears everywhere like a wet dog with water. She probably should’ve rehearsed this. Or at least thought about what she truly wanted to say. But, instead, Cheryl was going to wing it. 

“I’m so sorry. For everything. I…I built up these walls around myself. I had to. All of the traumatic childhood experiences led me to believe that everyone behaved the same way as my parents did. That people only walk the Earth for themselves. That everyone only cares about their own problems and they kick down others in order to fix them.

“I couldn’t believe it when someone came along who actually put me before themselves. I thought it had to be some kind of sick joke. Or that they took pity for me. Or that I was some charity case…” She brushed away a tickling tear. “My mother used to say ‘love is weakness’. And I used to believe her. So I followed in her and Daddy’s footsteps and I kicked others down. Better to be on top and feared than to be bullied and ignored at the bottom. Except, they don’t tell you that anywhere on the hierarchy, especially on the top, you still feel alone.

“You make me feel wanted, Toni,” Cheryl pried her eyes open against her will and they darted towards the other girl’s. “And I ruined that. All because of some stupid jealousy. It was so wrong of me to say all of that ignorant stuff. I was just so frustrated that you’d picked someone else over me. So, I’m sorry. I should’ve let you live your life and we could’ve just been friends and ignored this ridiculous mess.”

God, she was out of breath. Speeches were not really her thing. How all of those words surpassed the enormous lump in her throat, she didn’t know. Cheryl let her head droop, unable to maintain eye contact with the Serpent in front of her. She could just feel the rejection and harsh words building up in Toni’s throat. It’s what always happened. 

Except…oh.

Toni had placed a gentle finger underneath Cheryl’s wobbling chin, slowly applying pressure to lift her head up. And she was _smiling_. “Cheryl, we both said some things that were a little extreme. But you’re not weak, or loveless, or horrible. I think you know the word that’s coming that I’m going to use to describe you. God, Cheryl, you’re so damn sensational. And the fact that you don’t even realize it makes it even more radiating. You didn’t mess anything up. In fact, you getting jealous over my Tinder date may have confirmed a little suspicion I had.” Toni drew the girl closer to her, their noses only a mere inch apart. 

“Maybe I don’t want to be just your art partner or your friend,” the Serpent drawled, her warm breath tickling Cheryl’s lips. It was way different than when the Ghoulie had been in close vicinity with her. He’d made her heart hammer in one way, but Toni made hers almost catapult out of throat. 

“Then what do you want?” Cheryl whispered, anticipation killing her. She wasn’t dumb. She just wanted to hear Toni say it.

“I want-”

But just like a teasing fanfiction author with a keyboard to control every movement and detail in the story, their moment had yet again been interrupted. Jughead and gang had stormed over, aggravation written all over their faces. “They’re gone. Not a trace of them. And the old woman who works at the shop is in total shock. We can’t get anything out of her.”

Toni and Cheryl exchanged a glance, playful annoyance shimmering in their eyes. “Guess we’ll have to finish this somewhere else…in private,” the Serpent mumbled softly. She smirked however, tapping Cheryl lightly on the cheek. The taller girl smiled back as well, using the back of her hands to smear her tears away.

“They took Cheryl’s car, so this whole mess isn’t over yet,” Toni grumbled, standing and reaching a subtle hand down to grab Cheryl’s. At first she stiffened at the unexpected touch, but slowly relaxed into it. The Serpent pulled her up and threaded their fingers, causing Cheryl’s entire body to become electrified. 

“Are you kidding me?” Jughead snorted, rubbing his temples. He began to pace back and forth, FP stepping in to put a hand to his son’s shoulder. “We’ll get it back, kid, don’t worry. We’re the fucking Southside Serpents. The Ghoulies are just a bunch of Lord of the Flies-esque idiots. We’ve just got to outsmart them.”

Jughead shook his head. The periwinkle circles under his eyes seemed to grow darker by the second. “Fine. We’ll regroup later and plan out something to take them down. It’ll be even harder to do that though since Penny’s jumped ship and swam into their territory.”

Toni steered Cheryl away from the bickering father and son. “You okay?” she asked, yet again. Cheryl sighed and smiled softly, “A bit shaken up. But much better now.” The ginger glanced down at their connected hands, a fluttery feeling climbing up her chest. “Well,” Toni trilled, tugging Cheryl in the direction of her motorcycle, “Something good that came out of this Ghoulie drama is that you finally get to ride on my motorcycle.”

Toni patted the leather seat of Yoshi. “You up for that?”

“Of course I am. You think I’m going to _walk_ through Southside?” The ginger waited patiently as Toni dropped her hand and reached across the bike. She handed Cheryl her helmet. “It’s a short ride, don’t worry about me. Plus, you’ll totally rock it, trust me.”

And she did. Rock it. Although it was a bit uncomfortable. And restraining. Because all Cheryl wanted to do right now was shower Toni in hundreds upon hundreds of kisses. “Can we…work on the project back at your place?” Cheryl asked, suddenly feeling vulnerable and awkward. This was supposed to be the second part of her ‘win Toni back’ plan. “I brought some supplies and I just thought it’d be a good distraction from all…this.” She waved her hand around at the gaggle of Serpents.

“Yeah, totally.” The pink-haired girl confirmed, throwing a leg over the bike. Cheryl followed suit, snuggling up behind Toni. Her arms snaked around the girl’s midsection as Toni fumbled to start the thing. “Hold on tight, and whatever you do, do not let go.”

Pressed up against the Serpent, Cheryl didn’t think that would be a problem. She reveled in their direct contact, her body aching for the girl in front of her. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Cha Cha,” Cheryl purred, feeling the vibration of the engine pulse beneath her body. 

\--  
She was waiting outside the door to Toni’s bedroom, her fingers twitching with nerves and a slight sweat starting to break out on her neck. Her idea for the art project had been a long shot. But Toni had agreed. 

Since a regular old oil and canvas painting was deemed ‘uncreative’, she’d decided to think outside the box. Or, canvas in this case. Her mother would find this idea deviant. Oh so deviant. But since a new light had been shed throughout Cheryl’s mind, she thought it was clever, aesthetically pleasing, and, well, intimate. 

“Ready!” A voice called from the other side of the door. Cheryl gulped before slowly turning the knob. Toni was lying on her stomach on the bed, mirror in hand, her caramel back exposed and glowing. “I’ve always wanted to try this out,” Cheryl said sheepishly. She began setting up her painting supplies on the nightstand beside the bed. Toni threw a look back at her. 

“If this tickles bad, I might lose it,” she giggled, waving a foot around in the air. As Cheryl squeezed a small amount of oil paint onto her palette, she found herself moving in a slowed motion. Was she ready for this? To so passionately share these intimate moments with the shorter girl next to her?

Of course she was. 

“Just try not to ruin the painting with all your squirming around.” Cheryl dipped a brush into the oils and made eye contact with the Serpent through the mirror she was holding. Ugh, she was beautiful. 

She began with the eyes. Those oh so magical eyes. She wanted to capture the way the golden flecks shimmered this way and that, no matter where you stood when you looked into them. As soon as the tip of her brush touched the surface of Toni’s back, the pink-haired girl wiggled beneath her. “Cheryl, that paint is freezing, oh my god.”

“Better that than scalding hot,” Cheryl shot back playfully. She smeared a coat of paint over her tanned skin, her core aching when Toni let out a tiny gasp. “I think I’d be into that, though.”   
She chewed her lip at the pink-haired girl’s remark. But, she ignored it, instead flicking the brush over her live canvas. Sometimes she would accidentally on purpose use the brush as a feather to tickle the girl next to her. This only charged the air around them.

With her eyes flicking between the palette, the mirror, and Toni’s back, she began to find her rhythm. Eventually she paused her painting to click open her Spotify on her phone. Cheryl chose one of her painting playlists and settled back down on the edge of the bed. 

It was quite awkward to paint at this angle. She shifted a little and her elbow bumped into Toni’s leg. “You can come up here more if you want,” Toni suggested, abandoning the mirror to catch Cheryl’s eye over her shoulder. She winked and Cheryl’s breath caught in her throat. She shifted her weight and climbed up further onto the bed so that she was now between Toni’s legs. How ironic.

“Sweet Piss and Teeth Boy aren’t going to come flying in here with a battering ram, are they?” She asked, mixing a color on the palette. Laughter shook the bed beneath her. “Oh god, no. They’re out planning the Great Ghoulie Revenge Plan with Jug. I told them I had _other matters to attend to_.”

_Other matters to attend to._

She wouldn’t be able to hold it together for much longer. All of this damn flirting was driving her nuts. It felt like she swallowed a beehive and the little bees were buzzing around in her chest and stomach. FUCK.

Cheryl held the brush still, her eyes flitting over the painting. So far she’d painted Toni’s eyes and nose. Next would be her lips, but she couldn’t quite see them from her position. As nimble and graceful as a ballerina, she sprang from the bed, paintbrush snug behind her ear. “Whatcha up to, Monet?” 

She crouched down at the front of the bed, her head tilted sideways as she studied the Serpent’s face. “Just trying to really absorb all of the little details. That’s what makes a painting pop.” Every sense that she was currently feeling at them moment suddenly felt extremely heightened. Even the music trickling from her phone seemed to be swirling around her being. Bullet by Ann Marr was currently playing, maybe mocking her. 

_Do you feel the same way?_

The lyrics seemed to speak to her and everything else except the girl in front of her seemed to fade away. Her eyes fluttered down to Toni’s lips, a strong tickling sensation building behind her ribcage. 

_Do you know what you’re doin’ to me?_

And suddenly she was lurching forward, _finally_ capturing Toni’s lips between hers. The paint brush behind her ear slipped and fell to the floor. She didn’t care. Kissing Toni was alternatively the opposite of kissing Archie or Chuck. Kissing Toni was like dancing on an iceberg that had caught fire.

The shorter girl propped herself up on her elbows, cupping Cheryl’s cheeks softly and deepening the much awaited kiss. There were no clacking teeth, just unbearably soft lips, softer than Cheryl had ever imagined them and the overwhelming urge to continue. She reached a shy hand up to Toni’s face, touching it gently just to make sure that she was really here and that this was really happening. 

Her slender fingers were smudged in oil paints but neither of them seemed to care. Instead, she tangled her artist hands in Toni’s hair, the silky softness of it melting on her fingertips.

Toni was the first to pull away, but it was only to softly stroke Cheryl’s cheek. “What I was going to say earlier was that I want _you_ ,” she whispered, tucking a loose strand of the ginger’s ruffled hair behind her ear. “I want you too,” Cheryl breathed, holding Toni’s gaze for a beat before reconnecting their lips. 

Cheryl felt like she was wrapped in a thick wool blanket that had been shoved into an oven in the tropics. Toni seemed to realize this too because each kiss increased with passion, and her arms began to wobble, fatigue taking over. Cheryl took that as a cue to lift them both up with the kiss, Toni’s chest now fully exposed. But Cheryl didn’t know that at the time (her dang eyes were closed, dummies).

She wrapped a palm around Toni’s neck, using her other hand to gingerly push the Serpent’s shoulder; a silent message for her to lay back. “Cheryl,” Toni hummed, popping apart from the ginger who was practically straddling her now. One of the shorter girl’s elbows held her upper section above the comforter. “You’re going to ruin the painting and my bed spread if you…top.” 

Cheryl sat back, opening her eyes as a pout formed on her lips. “Fine,” she huffed, wriggling up to the top of the bed and flopping down. She reached an eager hand out, Toni flipping around and crawling towards her. Ugh, she was gorgeous, her bare chest doing a number on Cheryl. She was dizzy with lust, but she knew in order to sanctify the relationship and keep it running smooth, she’d have to take things slow. So it was an ‘easy tiger, slow down’ from here on out that played on a looped track in her mind. For now, however, there was no harm in making out with Toni. Quite the opposite really. 

And tangled up beneath her, oh, that was something else. Back on her streak, Cheryl cradled the shorter girl’s face in her hands, pulling her back down and planting powerful kisses on her nearly swollen lips. She glided down to nip the spot beneath her jaw where she’d always imagined it’d give her the most pleasure. Like the miracle worker she was, Cheryl had caused Toni to jerk her head to the side, allowing a wider access for the ginger’s roaming lips. 

She then moved to leave a sparking trail of avid kisses, pausing to nibble at a softer part of skin at the base of Toni’s throat. Groaning softly, the Serpent took Cheryl’s hand in hers, tangling their fingers and squeezing gently. The redhead squeezed back equally as soft as Toni took a turn at littering Cheryl’s collarbone with warm little pecks. 

Her head lolled back in complete ecstasy, her mind buzzing with yearning, and her body pulsing with heat. She was like a mini radiator. A perfect heater companion for those mountainous winter getaways. 

As soon as Toni’s lips were back on hers, she tested the waters by applying a bit more pressure to her mouth. The Serpent inhaled sharply in response, a tiny moan caught in the back of her throat. Her lips tingled with the pressure, the faint taste of strawberries on Toni’s lips. It was probably from some off brand childish lip-gloss. But, nonetheless, it was warm and inviting, making her feel right at home. 

Strawberries were her favorite after all. She wondered if Toni had worn it especially for her. Like she just _knew_ this was bound to happen. Maybe she’d worn it everyday they were together. Anticipating her secretive desires. 

Cheryl untangled their hands, wishing instead for her own to be roaming around the pink-haired girl’s back. Her fingers danced over something wet and she could feel them slipping over the girl’s skin. 

“Shit. Cheryl. The painting!” Toni broke free from Cheryl’s puffy lips, eyes wide in alarm. “I don’t care,” she drawled in a whisper. “We can always make it up and do this again another day.”

Toni smirked, leaning down to press a kiss to the bandage on Cheryl’s cheek. “Definitely. I’d love to do _this_ again,” she murmured against Cheryl’s skin, moving down to her neck and leaving a wake of sloppy wet kisses. 

“Me too,” Cheryl sighed, closing her eyes and relishing in the tickling feeling that flared throughout her body. A rushing splash of warmth thrummed inside of her chest as she realized just how lucky she was. 

She finally felt like the universe was giving her a good ole clap on the back. Everything in this moment was perfect, right down to the oil paints smudged on her fingers and hidden under her nails. She wished she could live in this moment forever. 

But that type of desire only comes true in fairy tales.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY!!! OMG I've been waiting forever to write that last scene. I always feel like I'm rushing them into things. Oh well, it's fanfiction. BUT thank you all so much for your love and comments. I love them so so so much <3 Let me know what you thought of this chapter! And don't worry, the story's not over yet of course. Until the next chapter... c;


	10. The One Where They Fuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What more can the summary say that the title already did

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT'S UP DINGUSES!!! I wrote this mini chapter to tide you guys over while I'm busy with life and shizzzzzzzz. So! I'll try to update as much as I can, but just know I'll always be here to provide some quality Choni content. ALSO THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING SMUT SO DON'T HATE. ALSO SO TO MY FRIEND LIV FOR BEING BRAVE ENOUGH TO READ THIS MONSTROSITY <333

So, as it would seem over the next few days, barely any artwork progress was accomplished. It usually started the same each time. Cheryl and Toni would be in the trailer, supplies out and ready. And then boom. It was like they entered their own little world full of sneaky little kisses and on the edge of PG13 touches. Which in turn led to drastically long periods of time canoodled up in Toni’s bed. Because, Cheryl was way too scared to rush into things. But that never stopped her from wasting hours of precious art time making out with the Serpent. 

But fuck, they really needed to actually start getting some work done because at this rate, their projects would never be done in time. Today was Toni’s day to try out her art project. They’d been going back and forth every other day, but, again, to no avail, none of it ever got done. 

Toni pulled the semi-iced cake from the fridge, an awkwardly smeared frosting Cheryl staring up from her. It looked the same as it had the week before when she’d started. Oops. 

It wasn’t her fault. It was just that Cheryl was a really, really, _really_ dangerously tempting distraction sometimes. Plus, she only had one cake so if things got a little too frisky and it was somehow ruined…she’d have to start all over. With Cheryl’s project, that didn’t really concern the redhead since she was already so profound in the art skill set. 

“Okay,” Toni cautiously sat the cake down on the table, standing back to admire it. This was the third time this week she’d brought her project out of the fridge. Usually, she had just enough time to gather up her other supplies before Cheryl would whisk her off to the couch for a heavy make out sesh. “We really need to work on this cake.”

“Or,” the ginger drawled, sauntering up to the other girl. She danced her fingers up the length of Toni’s arm, leaving a sparking trail of goosebumps. “We could push it off another day and do something way more _fun_ instead.” She snaked her arms around the Serpent’s hips and rested her chin on Toni’s shoulder. 

Toni allowed a few seconds of neck kisses before she wriggled away from the taller girl, much like the creature her gang was named after. “As much as I’d love to do that, the deadline for this project is literally next week. And you haven’t even started yours.”

“It’s not my fault you’re so damn irresistible.”

The devil worked hard but Toni’s resistance worked harder. “Cheryl, if we don’t get this project done, we’ll both flunk art class, drop out of high school, become bums, and never get anywhere in our lives. So,” she steered Cheryl back towards the table and plopped her down into a chair. “Don’t you dare move.”

“That’s a bit of a farfetched theory,” the ginger mused, eyeing her girlfriend skeptically. And yes, _girlfriend_ , because this was no random hookup between the two of them. It was wordlessly official. Toni peeled the Saran wrap from the sheltered cake, careful not to smudge the frosting. “I’m just saying.”

When she glanced up from fixing a battered looking part of the cake, she was met with ginormous puppy dog eyes and a pouty lip from Cheryl. “Give me and hour and we can take a break.”

“An hour? You expect me to sit still here for an _hour_ when you’re right there in front of me? And with frosting nonetheless?” Cheryl extended her lip out further. Toni chewed the inside of her cheek, knowing if she made eye contact with the ginger, she’d be gone. 

So instead, she focused on the miniature Cheryl in front of her, piping details into her scarlet locks. When she moved to the lips, she glanced up, ready to plot exactly what proportions went where on the iced map below her. But the ginger wasn’t in her chair. 

Toni had been so distracted with the teeny swirls of frosted hair, that she hadn’t even noticed Cheryl’s absence. That is, until she felt a pair of hands at her waist and hot breath at her ear. “You’ve been working so hard, TT. I think you deserve a little bit of a break.”

The Serpent shivered from the whispers and as soon as she turned to meet Cheryl’s eyes, her entire “focus on the art project” aspect of her soul evaporated from her body. Without even a lick of hesitation, she pressed her lips into the ginger’s, hands darting up to cup her cheeks. 

As Toni melted into the kiss, a part of her brain nagged at her to pull away and complete more of the project. If the cake could just be worked on a _little bit_ more, then she’d have less to worry about in the future. As much as she hated to, she tugged away from the tiger of a girl in front of her. “Could we please just get a little more done? Just sit in the chair for a little bit and then we can take another quick break.”

As innocently as she could make herself appear, Cheryl bit her lip and glanced up at Toni through a forest of lashes. “Make me,” she whispered.

Toni’s entire body froze, tingles electrifying her as if she’d hugged an electric eel; stood out in the middle of a thunderstorm, getting struck by lightning; stuck a fork in a power outlet; and got a jolt of electric shock from Pikachu. All at the same time. 

God, she was such a damn sucker for that phrase. Cheryl sure knew how to get what she wanted. Every ounce of her that willed for the project to be worked on was drained as she took a step toward the ginger. “Oh, I will,” Toni smirked, her eyes flitting dangerously down Cheryl’s body. 

Once again, she took her lips in her own, mashing the front of her body against the ginger’s in front of her. Cheryl let out a tiny gasp at the intensity burning behind Toni’s embrace, which only fueled her fire more. She began to back the redhead up into the kitchen, tasting the faint tinge of wild strawberries on her mouth. There was a sweet slip of tongue between lips, and the slightest brush of fingers over collarbones. 

Suddenly Toni had two hands balled into the flannel Cheryl had borrowed from her and was shoving her back into the frosting coated counter. “Since you insist so firmly that we should be ditching the art project for this, I’m gonna make it so worthwhile,” Toni bent her head to suck a kiss into Cheryl’s cleavage, letting go of the flannel to cup her breasts through the fabric.

She paused her kisses only to gaze up at the ginger, whose eyes sparkled with glittery lust. “Is this okay?” Toni asked, not wanting to push the taller girl to do something she didn’t want to do. “Of course it is,” Cheryl purred, reaching her hands down to pull Toni back up to her greedy mouth. 

Cheryl could feel the catch in Toni’s breath as her hands wound around the Serpent’s bare neck and pulled her closer. Their mouths crushed together in a glamorous smear of forgotten frosting and sensations one could only dream of attaining. Toni pressed a thigh between Cheryl’s, leather pants against the dampness of thin black leggings. There was still an obscene amount of fabric between the two, and Cheryl was not having it. 

She swiftly dipped a hand underneath Toni’s shirt, her palm running up the Serpent’s toned stomach. The pink-haired girl shivered beneath her touch but took it as a cue to promptly rid herself of the shirt. As soon as Toni had thrown it up and over her head, Cheryl followed suit, removing her own and revealing the lacy red bra she was sporting. 

Weak in the knees over how beautiful Cheryl was, Toni stopped breathing for a second. She marveled in the way the ginger’s perky breasts made the bright red of her bra pop even more. God, everything about her was so damn gorgeous. With her breath back in her throat, the Serpent peppered a smattering of wet kisses over the tops of Cheryl’s breasts, careful to give each the same amount of attention. 

Toni fiddled with the clasp at the back of the ginger’s bra, her trembling fingers unable to liberate her breasts from their scarlet locked prison. Whatever, maybe it’d be better if she could just-

And almost as if Cheryl had read Toni’s mind, she was hopping up onto the counter, legs swinging around Toni’s waist to trap her. With easier access, that is, without having to stand on her tippy toes, Toni was finally able to unhook the clasp at Cheryl’s back. She tossed the red lace to the floor and immediately thumbed orbits over the ginger’s exposed breasts, catching her moans between her teeth. 

Cheryl’s head lolled back in utter ecstasy, her breathing becoming noticeably heavier. Toni took the liberty to suck a premature hickey onto the softer skin just above the River Vixen’s nipple. She could hear a soft moan catch in Cheryl’s throat above her as she kissed her way down her stomach; fine ginger hairs leading down to the redhead’s belly button kissing her right back.

Toni hooked her fingers underneath the dark fabric of Cheryl’s leggings, once again hesitating. “Still okay?” She asked, fingers dancing underneath the hem. Cheryl nodded feverishly, “Definitely, Cha Cha. Don’t you dare stop.”

And with that, Toni yanked the leggings down awkwardly, Cheryl aiding in the prolonged pants struggle by shimmying them from her legs. Once they were balled at her ankles, Toni sunk down to her knees on the kitchen floor. Just as she suspected, Cheryl’s underwear matched her bra exactly, lace and all. She licked a stripe from one knee upward, smirking in the way Cheryl softly exhaled above her.

The ginger shivered beneath Toni’s mouth as the Serpent scraped her teeth over the inside of her thighs, adamant on leaving splotches of red that would turn all shades of blue and purple later. “Quit being such a damn tease,” Cheryl whined, carding her fingers through the pink hair below her. 

“And where would the fun in that be?” Toni hummed against the place where Cheryl’s thighs met in a slip of lacy cherry red. In a move so sensual that if anyone ever did it to her she’d be a shaking mess, the Serpent plucked the hem of the lace between her teeth and tantalizingly slowly tugged the fabric down. 

With her teeth still clamped down, she made a move to look up to meet the eyes of the writhing girl in front of her. Cheryl’s face was flushed and her bottom lip was caught between her teeth, a look of pure concupiscence silently begging Toni to continue. 

So as soon as her underwear was tangled up with her leggings below, continue Toni did. She stuck the tip of her tongue out, buzzing with a newfound (and heavily teasing) personality. “Cha Cha,” Cheryl grumbled, although she arched a little under the barely there touch from the Serpent. But Toni only taunted her more by softly moving away to sprinkle a multitude of hot kisses in the creases of her legs. 

“Toni, I swear if you don’t-”

The second half of Cheryl’s sentence was swallowed whole as Toni lunged forward to press a long, firm lick against the warmth in front of her. At this, a low moan scraped past the words stuck in her throat and Cheryl swore she felt Toni smile against her. “You think you’re so clever, Cha Cha, but just wait till I get you ba-fuck…” Her sexual ultimatum was interrupted as the Serpent below her sucked hard once, shrugging off any lingering preliminaries. 

Cheryl’s threaded fingers tugged on Toni’s hair as the Serpent hit a particularly sensitive spot. Her signature ruby lush lips parted as a ghost of a moan spiraled its way from the ginger’s mouth. Toni addressed the twitchy jerks Cheryl’s legs were throwing by dipping further to deliver short hard licks. 

At this, the redhead’s calves locked around Toni’s shoulders, her breaths morphing into panting whines. Without pausing, the pink-haired girl slid two fingers into the hot mess in front of her and began thrusting slick and strong. She knew she hit _that_ spot when Cheryl gasped and bucked beneath her. 

The River Vixen chewed her lip, chest heaving as she prayed that any more undignified sounds wouldn’t come spewing out of her mouth in the next couple of seconds. Toni worked slow but deep, sucking hard, her tongue rippling over the length of the writhing girl beneath her. She could feel the pressure building between her thighs, her breathing becoming harsh and her cheeks flushing to the shade of her lips. 

And it looks like Cheryl’s prayers were answered as only a low moan slithered out from between her lips. She clenched rhythmically around Toni’s hand, hips jerking up and down as she finally rode it out. Rainbows and fireworks and glitter and pops and fizzles exploded behind her eyes as Toni slowed her thrusts. When the Serpent eventually untangled herself from Cheryl’s legs, she wiped her mouth and smirked. “So that was pretty sensational, huh?”

“That was amazing,” Cheryl panted, gripping the edge of the counter for support. “But don’t get too cocky, Cha Cha. Just wait till I have you beneath me writhing in a puddle of lust and pleasure.”

Toni’s heart thrummed (as did other places) as she met Cheryl’s sparkling eyes. This girl was a catch. “How ‘bout we spend, mmm, a half an hour on the art project, since you look so lavishly riveting right now, and then you can show me that promise you just made?” She kissed the nape of Cheryl’s neck, making sure to plant another on the edge of her jaw. 

“Twenty minutes,” Cheryl countered, cupping Toni’s cheeks and sticking out her bottom lip. The Serpent rolled her eyes playfully, totally swooning at the nearly naked girl in front of her. “Deal.”

Another kiss, tangy like lemons, was delivered to Cheryl’s puffy lips, enough to make Toni realize just how badly she wanted twenty minutes to pass by.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAHHHHHHHHHHH IM SO BAD AT THIS. IDK HOW TO WRITE SMUT IM JUST A LITTLE INEXPERIENCED GAY. BUT THANK YOU FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR OMG I LOVE YOU GUYS <3


	11. Table Scraps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Innocent lunch in the courtyard might take a wicked turn...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I'm sorry this is being updated super late. I'm also sorry that it's short af. I HAVEN'T HAD MUCH TIME LATELY BUT I'M LIKE DYING TO WRITE. PLUS I FEEL LIKE THIS IS JUST A FILLER FOR THE BIGGER STUFF TO COME ARTRYHJYGHFDS. BUT HERE ARE SOME SCRAPS TO FEED YOU DINGUSES. ILY ALL SO MUCH <3

Curled up together on the sofa, with an episode of The Office acting as background noise, Cheryl and Toni spent their usual lazy Sunday in utter bliss. Cheryl’s head rested on the Serpent’s shoulder, half listening to Michael Scott yell about something on the television. 

Toni ran her fingers through Cheryl’s ginger locks, adamant on being an ooey gooey love sap now that they were officially dating. Everything was sugar, spice, and everything nice. Except, something in the back of her head was nagging at her to be said aloud.

“I talked to Fangs and Sweet Pea about trying to get your car back,” Toni finally spoke. Cheryl shifted so that she was turned to face the pink-haired girl. “She’s not _just a car_ , T. It’s _the Thunderbird_.”

“Excuse me. I talked to Fangs and Sweet Pea about trying to get your _precious Thunderbird_ back.”

The ginger twirled a strand of pinkish hair around her finger, not quite meeting the other girl’s impish gaze. She smiled weakly when Toni lifted her chin with a caramel finger. “What’s wrong?”

Cheryl chewed on the inside of her cheek, looking anywhere except for Toni’s concerned eyes. “Do you want to watch a movie?” she asked suddenly. The Serpent threw her a look of skepticism which Cheryl caught proficiently. “I bet Love, Simon is on demand. Or we could watch Les Mis. Or Shrek or-”

Toni caught the ginger’s puffy cheeks between her hands. “Cheryl, you’re rambling.” And she was. There was no doubt about it. She’d given herself away. What an idiot. Cheryl forced herself to take a nice, long, deep breath. “So this new Netflix original movie just came out if you want to watch it. It’s called Alex Strangelove and…”

She trailed off, finally meeting Toni’s eyes. It squashed up her insides to see how helpless Toni looked in the moment. Like she wasn’t enough to solve whatever was bothering Cheryl. “If you must know, I’m just worried about you. You know…taking on those Ghoulies? I mean, it was just a car. They’re gone now. Can’t we just leave it at that and enjoy our happy little selves?”

Toni didn’t know if the last part of her confession was meant as sarcasm. Although she had to admit, she was feeling a lot happier these days. “You know it’s not just a car, Cheryl. The Thunderbird is your baby, you said so yourself.”

“Really? Because I believe _you’re_ my baby,” the ginger smirked, quickly planting a kiss at the edge of Toni’s lips. As much as she despised this method of deflection, Toni allowed herself to get lost in a sea of avid kisses. She tried to get a few words in, however, whenever possible. 

“I know…you’re….worried that….I….we….are going to…get….hurt….but that’s…what…we signed up….for…when we….became Serpents…”She sputtered between each kiss that happened to be delivered to her lips. Cheryl leaned back at the concluding word, her eyebrows knit together. 

“It’s just hard to think about sometimes. You saw Sweet Pea and Fangs after that tiny Ghoulie scrap. I’d hate to think about you going out there and coming home looking way worse.” She didn’t add in the part about “if” Toni would come home. There was that possibility too. One that lived deep in the recesses of her mind and haunted her well-being. 

“And we’ll only keep getting hurt with the Ghoulies out there thinking they own the place,” Toni sighed, lacing her fingers between Cheryl’s. She brushed her thumb over her knuckles as a comforting gesture. “We just need one good scare, one good fight, to show them that we’re not afraid, and that we’re top dogs around here.”

“Top snakes,” Cheryl teased, but her limbs were still heavy with worry. She put on one of her best fake smiles (she’s had lots of practice with these disguises) and leaned in closer to Toni. “Can we talk about this another time? It’s no use getting worked up when we can’t do anything about it now.”

The Serpent nodded, catching a somber glimmer in Cheryl’s eyes. It was inevitable. And saving the discussion for another time would only prolong the worries. But for now, they doused those anxious flames with quips and humor from the resumed Netflix queue.

\--

At lunch the next day, Toni, Cheryl, Fangs, Kevin, Sweet Pea, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, and Archie all squeezed together on two picnic tables. Archie had pushed the tables together, whining that there wasn’t enough room for all of them at one picnic table. 

Cheryl hadn’t complained. She loved being pressed up against Toni, their bodies mashed in perfect uniform. Archie had only piped up because he was the only one who didn’t fit on either side of the bench. Cheryl had told him, “I’m sure there’s more than enough room in the teacher’s lounge. Plenty of _snacks_ too…for a growing boy.” Veronica had glared at her. 

On the opposite side of Toni, Fangs and Kevin were snug together, Kevin animatedly talking about the next musical he was directing and how Fangs should audition. “We’re doing _Singin’ in the Rain_ and I think you’d be the perfect Don Lockwood…You can dance, right?”

“Duh. I’ll be sure to show you _my_ moves sometime,” Fangs not so subtly winked. Cheryl watched as Betty’s eyes widened in a sudden realization. Oh, Cousin Betty…what a naïve little child you are. Especially after that one time you promised to show Veronica _your_ moves. 

“So, the Pussycats and I are putting on a little show tonight at Pop’s,” Veronica suddenly squealed, hiding her smile behind a clasp of her hands. “You guys will all be there, right?”

“Of course, Ronnie. Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Archie cooed, hooking an arm around her shoulder. Gag. We get it, Archie. You’ll do anything to proclaim your love for age appropriate women. But please, please, _please_ , stop acting like a huge fuckboi. 

Cheryl couldn’t decide whether or not she wanted to join in on the Riverdale antics of the night. Sure she supported the Pussycats and all, but wouldn’t a night in with Toni, a _private_ night in with Toni, be even better? She sneakily made a grab for the Serpent’s hand under the table, praying that the girl would understand her need for them to be completely alone tonight. 

But as soon as Betty and Jughead, and then Kevin and Fangs, and even tiny little Sweet Pea agreed to go, all eyes turned to them. “Cheryl?” Veronica asked, a palm under her chin. 

Before she could open her mouth, Toni was squeezing her hand and answering for her. “We’ll be there, Veronica. I’m sure it’ll be a great show.” 

She had no clue as to why Toni would agree to go but there was no turning back now. As pettily as she could, Cheryl dropped the Serpent’s hand and instead reached said hand up to grab her fork and stab at her salad. A wilted piece of spinach was impaled and turned a darker shade of green around its wounds. 

Cheryl could feel a handful of eyes on her from the staring onlookers around the picnic tables. So, she stabbed at her salad some more. Crushing the croutons with her fork was the most satisfying. Finally, before anyone could question her sanity, she took a hearty bite, mouth full of greens. As an added bonus, these pleebs wouldn’t be able to ask her any weird questions now that she had chipmunk cheeks. 

But even if her mouth had been empty, she was sure no one would question her. Fangs and Kevin were back to arguing over which musical was the best. Betty and Jughead were discussing articles they wanted to include in the Blue and Gold. Veronica and Archie were feeding each other French fries. Again, gag. 

Cheryl felt Toni’s hand on her thigh as she stuffed another bundle of leaves into her mouth. “Was that the wrong answer?” She whispered, drawing soft unintentional spirals over the ginger’s skin. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I just figured with all of the Ghoulie stuff going on, you’d want to have a little fun.”

Cheryl clenched her teeth as Toni’s hand flitted dangerously close to her center. Did she even know what she was doing to her? “Fun was what I had in mind too. Just not surrounded by all these lackwits dabbing to unprecedented music. But you saw Veronica’s face. We can’t let her down, TT. Not after everything she’s done for me.”

“I’ve turned you into a complete softie,” Toni smirked, squeezing Cheryl’s leg. What a great day to choose to wear a skirt. “How about we go for a few songs, leave, and then have our own fun at home later?” Ugh, her mind. Cheryl nodded feverishly because if she opened her mouth, she might just let out a sound that would destroy her dignity. 

It was a good thing everyone was too distracted to notice the things going on underneath the table. Or maybe they were just too preoccupied by each other’s company to realize the subtle actions taking place. Already worked up, Cheryl took hold of Toni’s hand and guided it further across her lap. Toni took it as an incentive to press a finger to the slip of fabric under the ginger’s ruffled skirt. 

Cheryl inhaled sharply, digging her fork harder into the greens in front of her. In fact, so much pressure was being applied, that the leaves were being torn to little shreds. If the two of them kept this up, the salad could probably become so finely ground, it could be rolled up and smoked. 

The thing that was getting Cheryl off the most was the fact that no one else at the table knew about their relationship yet. It was fresh, and fun, and of course Cheryl was more than ready to shout her romance with Toni to the world. But this…this was so deviant and hot to her. Sexy even. It was a dangerous game to play and Cheryl was more than eager to win. 

“So, you two have been spending an awful lot of time together,” Jughead suddenly piped in, half a cheeseburger hanging from his hand. A glob of ketchup was smeared at the edge of his lips. “Did that art project finally force you guys to become friends?”

Cheryl could feel Toni’s eyes on her, daring the ginger to speak even though they were committing a dangerous act right there under the table. “Yeah, I guess being forced to spend time with someone for so long has its perks,” she answered wittily. 

“How’d the art pieces come out?” Jughead asked, finally swiping the spot of condiment from his face. Cheryl gulped as she felt Toni’s fingers dance around the edge of her underwear. “Haven’t finished yet,” she breathed, suddenly blushing at the way the sentence sounded. “Ah, I see. How far are you and Toni?”

Again, sentence structure. Yikes. And was this really the right time to be playing twenty questions? “If you must know, Toni has a fabulous start to hers. When she’s done, I’m sure the cake will be carted off to The Louvre.” With the hand that occupied the space above the table, Cheryl spun her fork around in the air. “Mine, however, hasn’t been finished yet. I’ve tried a few times but-”

Cheryl suddenly lurched forward as Toni finally wiggled a finger inside of her. She had to cough to cover up the gasp that had accidentally slipped out between her teeth. Everyone at the table, including Toni, stared at her like she had suddenly sprouted a second head. 

“Sorry, allergies,” Cheryl deflected imperially. She coughed a few more times and ran a finger under her nose to boost her lie. Kevin patted his chest pocket and pulled out a wad of tissues. Cheryl gratefully took them from him, but he was quick to add in a tiny smile. A knowing smile? Did he know? He had to know! Oh my god, his gaydar was probably going nuts. 

Cheryl could just imagine a tiny handheld rainbow device spurting glitter and confetti every time it pointed in her direction. Little sirens would go off screaming, “GAY! GAY! GAY! ALERT. ALERT. THERE IS A GAY APPROXIMATELY 3 FEET IN FRONT OF YOU. GAY! GAY! GAY!”

After the miniature spaz attack from the ginger, Jughead quit asking questions. Instead, he drooled some more over his burger and Betty. Archie had fished his guitar from its case and was sitting on top of the second picnic table. He plucked a few chords and soon stole the group’s undivided attention. Well…almost everyone’s…

Toni was going ham underneath the table. She thrusted her fingers into Cheryl, the River Vixen biting her lip so hard she thought it might soon start to bleed. She wanted to make a noise so bad but Archie wasn’t playing nearly loud enough. He was quietly strumming, his rough voice soothing over the rhythm. 

Cheryl’s knee suddenly collided with the underside of the top of the picnic table when Toni hit a particularly sensitive spot. The silverware clattered and even Betty’s iced tea was knocked over. Thank god no one could pinpoint where the artificial earthquake had come from. As the mess was sopped up with a charitable amount of napkins, Jughead excused himself from the table. “I’ll go get you some more tea,” he leaned forward to peck Betty’s cheek and she blushed. 

“Where’s he gonna go? Twitter? Because I know Veronica over there subtweets shit all the time,” Sweet Pea jeered. Cheryl couldn’t tell if he was teasing or not but ohmygod she didn’t care because Toni’s fingers were now pumping rhythmically fast and all sense of logic had been drained from her mind. What was 2+2? She couldn’t tell you.

All she knew was that Toni was such a tiger. Come to think of it, maybe the Serpent should be the new cereal mascot for Frosted Flakes. 

Growing intensely hot, Cheryl took initiative to grab a sip from her water bottle. No harm there, right? Wrong. Dead wrong. Because in that same moment, Toni decided to brush her thumb over the ginger’s clit. This in turn caused Cheryl to spray water from her mouth like a mister at an amusement park. Although the people who were misted were far from amused. 

As she sputtered up water like a saved drowning victim, Betty and Veronica grumbled about how wet they were now. _Please_ , Cheryl thought, hacking up a lung or two. _You two would be considered dry in comparison to me right now_. Vulgar, yes. But minds are altered while under other _influences_. 

“Must’ve went down the wrong pipe,” Cheryl apologized, handing Betty even more napkins. Wow, this lunch was snowballing into a disaster for them. Not her though. She was having a grand ole time.   
Archie resumed strumming, this time singing something upbeat to distract his gal pals from the spritz of Aquafina they’d just received. With the others momentarily distracted, Toni leaned in towards Cheryl, her warm breath tickling the ginger’s ear. “You’re a hot mess, Cheryl Bombshell.”

“Thanks for the info, Cha Cha. As if I didn’t already know,” Cheryl huffed, gripping her fork just a little bit tighter. With that, Toni sped up the pace and Cheryl had to pretend she was humming along with Archie to conceal her moan. Veronica was the only one to look at her funny. 

“What? I like this song.” Cheryl tapped her fork to the foreign beat, waving away Veronica’s stare. She didn’t even know the song, yet something about it felt so familiar. Speaking of familiarities, she could feel a very strong one occurring just below the hem of her skirt. How the fuck was she supposed to conceal whatever happened to come tumbling out of her mouth when she came?

And just as if Toni had read her mind, the pink-haired girl spoke up. “Hey, Archie, do you know any good and loud rock songs? Those are my favorites.” Archie paused his nonchalant strumming, a wicked grin stretching his face. “Would I even be a true musician if I didn’t? My dad loves those.”

He plucked a pick from his pocket of his jeans and began playing the opening to Pinball Wizard by The Who. With his conjoined singing added to the music from his guitar, Archie was loud enough for people across the courtyard to clearly hear which song he was performing. 

He was also loud enough that Cheryl had no trouble letting out a long, wistful moan of Toni’s name as soon as the Serpent’s fingers curled up inside of her. The sweet, sweet release was even more amazing given the fact that they were being sneaky in public. Even Archie’s vibrato had aided in her powerful orgasm; her heightened senses and the music making everything that much more real. 

Toni slowly pulled her slick fingers from Cheryl, making it painfully obvious to the ginger where they were headed. She sucked them off slowly as Archie sang the chorus, and at the last second, she turned to Cheryl. With a slight pop, her fingers fell from her mouth and once again laced through the taller girl’s. 

“Glad we’re leaving Pop’s early tonight,” Cheryl smarted, her voice still quivering underneath the guitar’s chords. “Because I am so getting you back for this gigantic messy hell you just put me through.”  
Toni shrugged, licking her lips and smirking. “Wouldn’t want it any other way, Bombshell.”

\--

When lunch was finally over, Veronica hung back from the “core four” and waited for Cheryl to gather her things. Toni hovered beside her like a protective hawk, the two other Serpents waiting as well.   
“Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?” Veronica asked, reaching a hand out to grab Cheryl’s arm. The ginger stiffened but quickly relaxed, turning to Fangs, Sweet Pea, and Toni. “You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up in a minute.”

Veronica tugged her away from the gang, hooked their arms together and walked her over to one of the many trees in the courtyard. Cheryl didn’t know what the hell Veronica wanted to talk to her about, but something in her gut told her it wasn’t anything good. In fact, maybe she should run right now. Better to not hear horrible news or something else than to live the rest of your life knowing something you wished you didn’t.

“So, you and Toni, huh?” was all the raven-haired girl said. Cheryl stood frozen in place, unsure of what to say. Did Veronica mean that as a question of friendship or…relationship? Until she could get into the other girl’s head more, Cheryl would assume she meant acquaintanceship. 

“Mr. Patrillo did say that the art project would create a lasting friendship,” Cheryl replied nonchalantly, pretending to pick at a chipped nail. But, little did Veronica know, her nails were never chipped. She preened herself as looking respectable. And with looking respectable, came weekly manicures. 

“Friendship. Riiiiiiight,” Veronica drawled, gaze unwavering. “Just like how Archie and I are _great friends_.” Okay, yeah, she totally wasn’t talking about BFFLs. “I’m thinking more along the lines that fate threw you two together. And I’m all for it.”

So what tipped Veronica off? The “allergies”, choking on water, humming a song she didn’t even know, or groaning Toni’s name under the well sung delivery of Pinball Wizard? Correction. Mediocre delivery of Pinball Wizard. 

“I see the way you look at her,” Veronica continued, toying with the pearls around her neck. “It’s adorable. I think you guys are my new OTP. I spent the second half of lunch trying to come up with a ship name. How do you feel about Teryl?”

What? Ew, first of all Teryl sounded like a middle-aged man who liked to play basketball with his ex-wife’s sons, even though he looked utterly disgusting in gym shorts. Second, did that mean Veronica had ignored Archie’s performance? Because she sure as hell acted like she did. Cheryl didn’t blame her though. Third, Veronica was actually supportive of them? 

She had no idea how any of her so called “friends” would react to this blossoming relationship. But now that Veronica had offered up her blessing, she was more than sure that she wanted to continue what she had with Toni, out and proud. 

“Thank you, Veronica, for that. It’s all so new to me, so I was a little scared to put myself out there. Me, Riverdale’s resident It girl, afraid of something.” She made a weak laugh and dropped her gaze to the soggy ground beneath her. “What with all of this backlash from my mother, enemies, and everyone else…I just thought it’d be another thing people would look at me different for.”

“You shouldn’t care what other people think of you. I learned that the hard way. Enemies come and go, but the people who truly care, your friends, they stay forever.” Veronica took Cheryl’s hands and squeezed them tightly. “I’m really proud of you, Cheryl. You’re so strong and you don’t take shit from any of these asshats. That’s what makes you different. And it’s a good different.”

With emotions running high enough to steal the words from her throat, Cheryl pulled Veronica in for a tight hug. They stood like that for a beat, lingering underneath the shade of the tree. 

“Choni!” Veronica suddenly cried, pushing back from the ginger. Startled and a tad confused, Cheryl tilted her head, eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“Cheryl and Toni,” Veronica replied, using one hand to represent Cheryl and the other as Toni. She made them meet in the middle with a tightly grabbing clap. “Choni.”

“Choni,” Cheryl repeated, feeling a warm smile radiate from her lips. “I like it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOOO BIG THINGS ARE COMING. I PROMISE TO KEEP UPDATING. I DON'T WANT TO DITCH THIS FIC BECAUSE TOO MANY PEOPLE DO THAT AND IT MAKES ME REALLY SAD. I'LL TRY TO UPDATE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR AMAZING SUPPORT <3 <3 <3


	12. It's Magically Delicious!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the night of Veronica's cabaret and a few special weenies are going to be participating in performances. Perhaps there's another iconic rap involved...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy fuck. HOLY FUCK YOU GUYS I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK FOREVER TO GET ANOTHER CHAPTER OUT. FORGIVE ME PLEASE SCHOOL SUCKS ASS. Just pretend it was a tiny hiatus. Because now I'm on spring break SO I'M BACK FOR A LITTLE BIT TO DELIVER SOME CHONI TO YOU DINGUSES. But really, thank you guys for continuing to encourage me to write even when I'm super unmotivated. Your comments keep me going and when you guys reach out to me telling me you'd love to see more, it really makes my day. SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! THIS IS A BIG OLE THICC CHAPTER SO YOU BETTER ENJOY IT <3 <3 <3

“Are you sure I don’t look stupid in this?” 

Toni and Cheryl both stood in front of the small mirror in the serpent’s bathroom. Cheryl ruffled her ginger locks a bit before throwing a puckered red smirk at her girlfriend. 

“Rest assured, TT, you look incredibly sexy in my dress,” Cheryl met the pink-haired girl’s eyes in the mirror and winked. Toni only fiddled with the black fabric around her armpits. “Well, if you say so, I suppose I can deal with the chafing long enough for everyone to see the big dick energy we have.”

Cheryl rolled her eyes and spun the shorter girl to face her. “Big _dyke_ energy. Dicks are so not fetch. Plus,” she drawled, running a hand coolly down the length of Toni’s arm. “You won’t have to wear that dress for long.”

“Someone’s getting fiesty tonight,” Toni purred, standing on her tiptoes to place a thick smudge of lipstick to the corner of the ginger’s jaw.

“You think _this_ is feisty? Oh just you wait, Cha Cha.”

Toni gulped so very unsubtly as Cheryl watched her with a teasing prowess grin. The ginger swathed a swipe of mascara to her eyelashes, careful to get a pristine look. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to tell you that the little show Veronica is putting on at Pop’s is also like a talent show-esque cabaret. And I happen to have a little number picked out to perform tonight.” 

“Does this number have anything to do with the song you were humming in the shower earlier?”

Cheryl smirked and capped her mascara. “You’ll just have to wait and find out.”

“Always a tease, you are,” Toni groaned playfully, once again readjusting the fabric seemingly glued around her frame. 

“I thought you liked that.”

The Serpent squeezed her eyes shut and drew a big gulp of air in, releasing it slowly from her nose. “Cheryl, if you don’t quit making smartass little quips like that, we’re really going to be late.”

“Who said being late isn’t fashionable?” Cheryl spun around so that she was now trapped between Toni and the sink. Her slender fingers danced dangerously over Toni’s collarbone, accidentally on purpose tickling the softer part of her frame. 

The pink-haired girl hastily caught the ginger’s hand, holding it firmly and trying hard not to laugh. “PLEASE. It took me twenty minutes to get this thing on and that was a whole ass hassle. For the love of Lesbian Jesus, don’t make me go through that again.” 

Cheryl wriggled her fingers in Toni’s tight grasp. “Twenty minutes to put that on? I bet I could get you out of it faster.”

Toni had to laugh at that. “Cheryl, you’re doing the thing again.”

The ginger cocked her head as innocently as possible. She lowkey looked like a cocker spaniel. She even captured the perfect puppy dog eyes. “What thing?”

Toni let out a breathy chuckle, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “You’re being a horndog in a time where you shouldn’t be a horndog. I’m gonna count to three, snap my fingers, and your horny trance shall disappear…until later…”

Cheryl watched her girlfriend with a bored expression, her hand starting to tingle from still being held between Toni’s. 

“One…”

A pouty lip from the ginger. 

“Two…”

Bigger puppy dog eyes with added brows for emphasis.

“Three.”

Toni dropped Cheryl’s hand and the taller girl’s eyes popped wide in faux shock. 

“TT, that totally worked! I feel cleansed. Pure again. All dried up! Vagina? I don’t know her. What even is sex? I don’t remember apparently because you are such a merveilleux magician.” 

“More like _vag_ ician,” Toni smarted, grinning over the fake ass acting radiating off of Cheryl’s new character. “But don’t worry, you cheeky little peach. Once the performances at Pop’s are over, I’ll undo the spell.”

She softly stamped a kiss to the hungry lips in front of her and let it spread out with her smile. Cheryl pulled back but leaned forward once more so that their foreheads touched. “You better since you’re posing as _Gay_ vid Blaine.”

They stood like that for a beat before Toni’s phone buzzed, shattering the sticky gooey warmth she felt pooling in her heart. Ugh, damnit. She plucked it from the countertop, Cheryl’s nosy gaze reading Sweet Pea's text along with her. 

**YOU WIENERS BETTER GET UR GAY ASSES OVER HERE BECAUSE YOURE NOT GONNA WANNA MISS MY CONTRIBUTION TO V’S SHOW ASDFGHJIUYTF *cowboy emoji* *flame emoji***

“Welp, I guess that’s our cue since apparently we can never have a moment to ourselves.” Toni sighed lightheartedly. She held out a hand for Cheryl who gratefully took it between her freshly manicured fingers. 

“Let’s go show those thrift store hobbits what true powerful queens look like.”

\--  
“And in the bad times, I fear myself.”

Veronica and Josie swayed lucidly in front of two respectable microphones, tying the song, Shallow, by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, into a soothing duet. While she was glad that the mashup involved two girls singing, Cheryl was still head over heels bored with their song choice. Couldn’t they have picked anything…she didn’t know…less somber sounding?

Perhaps something along the lines of Fergalicious would’ve triggered the entire Riverdale population but at least it would be more exciting than getting a suicidal vibe. 

Toni, Cheryl, Sweet Pea, and Fangs all sat around a white tablecloth clad table, staring up at the makeshift stage stationed right outside of Pop’s. There were plenty of them scattered around, each holding their own cliques and candlelit dinners from within the town. Fairy lights were strung around as well, creating a soft glow in the dusky atmosphere. Pop Tate had a grill hooked up outside to which Fred Andrews happily flipped burgers. Inside, the Chock’lit Shoppe’s pure bean worked on crisping golden fries and whipping up sugary sweet milkshakes for everyone. 

“I’m…falling…In all the good times I find myself longing…for change…and in the bad times, I fear myself…I’m off the deep end, watch as I dive in. I’ll never meet the ground!” Veronica poured her heart and soul into her vocals, astonishingly capturing the audience by the scruffs of their shirts and holding them on the edges of their seats. Archie whistled from somewhere in the crowd and Fangs joined in as well. Cheryl had to admit, Veronica’s voice was fucking amazing. 

She suddenly felt a tiny prickle of anxiety flutter around her chest. She was up next. What if…what if she couldn’t live up to Veronica’s song? There was no way in hell she could top it. Especially with the song she’d chosen. 

Toni felt her girlfriend tense up beside her and placed a hand over the ginger’s. “You okay?”

“Fine,” Cheryl lied through her teeth. She stared straight ahead at Veronica, her gaze unwavering. Unconvinced, Toni ran her thumb over the back of Cheryl’s hand, the taller girl stiffening. 

“If you’re worried about the performance, I can already let you in on a little secret,” Toni mused, whispering close to Cheryl’s ear. “You’re going to be incredible. Outstanding. _Sensational_. Wanna know how I know that? Because you’re so breathtaking and sublime as is and now you get to show it off to everybody here tonight. I’m so proud of everything you do, Cheryl, and having enough courage to even step foot on that stage is enough to be in awe over. You’re totally gonna kill it.”

Yeah, maybe she would, except for the fact that there was now a giant lump in her throat that felt like it was wrapped in barbed wire. “You’re so sweet,” Cheryl whispered, careful to hold her tears back so they wouldn’t smudge her eye makeup. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“You were just you. Perfect little you.” A small smile tugged at Toni’s lips as she admired the way the ginger’s eyes had softened only for her. But of course, like any other super soft and domestic moment, it was quickly overshadowed, this time by the thunderous clapping at the conclusion of the duet. 

“Now, I’m no Lady Gaga, but I’m pretty sure a star was born tonight!” Josie chuckled into the microphone, throwing a happy glance over at her duet partner. The crowd erupted in cheers once more as Veronica blushed and curtsied. 

“Perhaps. But you were always the star! Everybody give it up for the super talented Josie!” Veronica barked into the mic, pumping her arms up and down to hype up the crowd. Sweet Pea pushed back his chair and clapped loudly, even going as far as to cup his hands around his mouth and yell words of encouragement to her. 

“SKINNY LEGENDS ONLY, BABE!!!”

“Uhhhhhhh, since when did Sweet Pea start calling people babe?” Toni asked, confusion morphing the features of her face. 

“I think the real question is since when did Sweet Pea start calling Josie babe?” Fangs countered, hooking his legs up over the table. With a strawberry milkshake in one hand, he steadied himself with the other, the front chair legs up in the air like a rearing horse. Toni guessed he had about twenty seconds before he and his milkshake took a spill.

“Haven’t you buffoons noticed the way he’s always drifting off towards her in school? Or walking her to class? Or how they’re literally on Facetime every single night when I’m trying to get my beauty sleep?” Cheryl couldn’t fathom how blind the two Serpents would have to be to miss the obvious clues.

“Oh, please. We all know that’s not what you’re trying to do,” Fangs jested, finally losing his balance and toppling over. 

“That’s what you get, you perv,” Toni chimed in, holding back the laughter bubbling in her throat over the dollop of strawberry ice cream that had landed on his crotch area. Cheryl, on the other hand, let everything out at once. It was humiliatingly funny and the perfect distraction to calm over her nerves. That is, until Veronica spoke once more from the stage. 

“Now, if you all will be so kind as to welcome the next performer to the stage…the one and only HBIC…Cheryl Blossom!”

Toni squeezed the ginger’s hand softly and encouragingly mouthed, “you got this” to her. Cheryl rose slowly, mostly to conceal the tremors she could feel throughout her body. It was as if someone had rewired her nerves to feel everything tenfold. She snaked her way around the globs of leftover strawberry milkshake on the ground and padded up onto the stage. 

It was dead silent as Veronica passed her the microphone. As the darker hair girl turned to walk down the stage steps, Cheryl quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back up. She whispered something quietly into the girl’s ear and Veronica nodded, a slow grin dancing on her lips. 

She trotted off the stage, only to return a moment later with a foldable chair. Cheryl gratefully took it from her and this time, Veronica hopped down the steps for the last time. The HBIC sat the chair out in the middle of the stage and placed herself behind it, head down. A single red light captured her essence in a spotlight, everyone in the crowd eager to know what song was about to be performed. 

And that’s when the first few beginning notes of Toxic by Britney Spears trickled through the speakers. Toni’s heart, presumably on fire, jumped to her throat as Cheryl’s low and husky voice sang the opening verse. 

She was doing the exact number from Glee that Quinn, Santana, and Brittany executed sexily. Even though she knew Cheryl had picked this song, Toni had had no idea that there was going to be sexy dancing involved. She suddenly wished she was an actual magician so that she could make everyone else around her disappear so that she could have a *ahem* private show with her girlfriend. 

“A girl like you,” Cheryl swayed her hips tantalizingly slow and pointed somewhere in Toni’s direction. “should wear a warning. It’s dangerous. I’m fallin’.”

She whipped her head around, her pristine gingers locks following in suit like a molten glowing waterfall. Cheryl ran her fingers down her neck softly, closing her eyes and biting her lip to the instrumental portion. She knew that somewhere in front of her Toni was probably losing her shit and wishing she’d never agreed to come. 

“Too high…can’t come down…” Cheryl placed the heel of her expensive ruby shoes on the chair and sensationally slid the palm of her hand down the length of her exposed leg. Some dude whistled from the crowd and she fought the urge to roll her eyes. This was not a show for prying fuckbois. If she had it her way, it would be exclusively for her sweet TT.

“Losin’ my head, spinnin’ ‘round and ‘round…” She boldly stepped up onto the chair, turning away from the audience and slowly dropping down low. That earned enough whoops and screams to supply power and energy to the monsters of Monsters Inc for at least five years. 

“With the taste of your lips, I’m on a ride…you’re toxic, I’m slippin’ under…” Cheryl kicked herself from the chair and landed neatly without breaking an ankle. She waltzed back behind the chair and made slow grinding movements, her arms working in rhythm to drag out her inner sexy goddess.

Meanwhile, Toni was becoming more and more like Fangs’ spilled milkshake. She was melting into a mess, her face tingling in electric heat. She could probably contribute to global warming at this rate. Fangs turned to her with an impish grin and mouthed the word ‘wow’ before topping it off by making a ‘V’ with his fingers and sticking his tongue between them. Toni gave him the finger, mostly pissed because he’d distracted her from the show on stage. 

The silk of her dress suddenly felt two times as tight as before and now there was a lusty need to grab Cheryl, go all Hulk, and rip the fabric to shreds. But for now, she threw one leg on top of her other, pinching and squeezing them together as Cheryl haughtily danced across the stage. 

When the last note faded out, Toni abruptly stood, ready to sweep Cheryl off to who knows where and let all this built up desire come rushing out like a broken dam. Everyone under the twinkling fairy lights held up their milkshakes as a sort of toast, cheering and egging Cheryl on to do an encore. 

Secretly, Toni wanted an encore too, but like her very own super private and super sexy encore. An encore where it wouldn’t be weird to strip in front of the audience. Hoo boy. She was sweating just thinking about it. 

Honestly, Toni was brimming so much with lust, that her ears completely tuned out everything around her. She just needed her girlfriend. NOW.

So, the Serpent skirted around the maze of tables, making her way to the foot of the stage as quickly as humanly possible. Fun fact: when Toni is horny she can do everything at a super human speed. This is science (proven by our local HBIC), strictly for your knowledge. 

“Awesome! Looks like we’ve got our next performer! Let’s give a big hand for our local badass, Miss Toni Topaz!”

Um. What? Excuse me?? Whomst???

Like a deer suddenly caught in headlights, Toni stood frozen to the ground, at least 200 eyes boring into her skin. Someone swiveled the spotlight towards her, completely blinding the shit out of the Serpent. “Wait, what?”

Someone tugged on her arm, gently pulling her up on stage. Toni blocked the glare from the spotlight to see the Veronica had led her up here, her smile beaming just as brightly as the lights. “I said if anyone else wanted to perform something to make their way to the front of stage. I’m so glad you decided to give it a go!”

“But I can’t sing and-”

“You don’t have to sing. You could do an interpretive dance or read a poem or something. But don’t you dare let your audience down, Topaz.”

What the fuck. Well, that was probably payback from completely shutting down Cheryl’s desires earlier. Haha hmmmm.

Veronica left her to stand there by her lonesome, awkwardly lit on the seemingly expansive stage. Should she…tell a joke? Well fuck that because her mind was completely at a blank right now. Why did the chicken cross the road? The fuck if she knew.

There was no way in hell she was singing. That was a big fat nope. She’d tried singing in front of people before in the school musical, Carrie, but that hadn’t gone over so well. So now she only sung quietly to herself or not at all. 

What else had Veronica suggested…? Oh fuck. OH FUCK. A poem. 

She’d actually been working on one. She wasn’t much of an open formed poet, but something about the piece she’d written spoke directly to her soul. It felt raw and real. From the simple chained purse clinging to her shoulder, she fished out her phone and tapped open her notes app. 

Toni took a deep breath and tilted the microphone down so that her lips could meet its height. 

“You say sometimes love speaks out.” Her voice was trembling. She hated speaking in front of groups. She drew in a shaky bout of air and closed her eyes before starting again. 

“You say sometimes love speaks out.  
A curious strong feeling  
With powerful secrets defying twists and temptation.  
Years of extra time.  
More little things,  
Less rules.  
Shocking.  
I’m bitter.”  
A deep breath. Toni’s eyes skittered over the sea of darkened faces searching for one in particular.  
“One good girl  
Fighting trouble and reality.  
Writing letters home to the moon.  
Can’t fall too.  
She is unrecognized.  
Many lock the story  
And it’s quick to give relief.”

There. The girl of her dreams. God, Cheryl was so powerful just standing there. She wasn’t even doing anything. Just watching her girlfriend, alone on stage, probably making a complete fool of herself. But there was something so surreal about it. 

“Always understand the undercover battle.  
Playful fear is how to live life.  
Choosing girls with hidden color.  
She is everything.  
Never stop piecing together the past.  
Rise up and taste time, curious mouth.  
Wake up from the night.  
Come out.”

Toni flashed a nervous smile to the silent crowd, shuffling back a bit and almost knocking the mic stand over. When the group of Riverdale residents realized she had finished, they clapped madly. Toni could hear Sweet Pea and Fangs catapulting praises to her. 

She bowed in extreme awkwardness as Veronica raced up the steps to reclaim the spotlight. 

“Toni…oh my god. That was amazing! My jaw? Still on the ground because I’m in total awe over that poem. It felt so…real. Any inspiration?”

The pink-haired girl bit her lip, a sneaky blush creeping along the edges of her face. “A very sensational girl gave me every bit of inspiration not only for the poem, but for having the guts to read it in front of all of you.” She smiled down at Cheryl, the audience following the tilt of the Serpent’s gaze.

Suddenly the spotlight was washing over the HBIC, illuminating her for the crowd to see. Beside Toni, Veronica quickly dipped down to relay a quick lick of information into the microphone. “Extremely adorable you guys. We love Choni! Oh, I almost forgot to mention to everyone who isn’t already celebrating…Happy birthday, Cheryl!”

What?

Toni let the mic slip from her hands as Veronica (thank god) caught it in her own. 

No.

It wasn’t Cheryl’s birthday.

She…

She would’ve told Toni. 

Right?

In the spotlight, Cheryl caught the flash of hurt in Toni’s eyes and quickly moved out of the white beam. Whoever was maneuvering it tried to follow the ginger but Cheryl swiftly shut that down by throwing the middle finger towards the light. It was quickly shut off. 

Toni scampered down the stage, striding as quickly as possible in her heels. (Nonhorny Toni is MUCH slower than horny Toni. That’s science, baby!)

Now that she was on ground level, it was much harder to spot the ginger in the crowd. It was like playing Where’s Waldo on a whole new level. At least both of them were wearing red so they were easier to spot. 

And then boom. There she was. Leaning against the side of the diner, Toni’s Serpent jacket pulled up around her shoulders. Approaching as gently as possible as if Cheryl were a rabbit who, when startled, would flee in an instant, Toni tried to concoct anything to say to the girl in front of her. 

“Happy birthday.”

Oh my god. That was probably not the smartest way to start the conversation. 

Cheryl didn’t take her eyes away from the sky. She was tracing over the constellations and trying to calm her anxiety. Cassiopeia...Draco…Perseus…Ursa Major…Ursa Minor…

“Are you okay?”

She finally tore her eyes away from Polaris, watery moons snug in her pupils. She tugged the leather jacket tighter around her frame. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you it was my birthday. It’s just that my evil snake of a mother never made that day feel any more special than any other day. To her it was just a day of existence so I guess that opinion was embroidered into my mind. It was always Jason in the limelight. I wasn’t special. She knew it. And she didn’t want to celebrate it or me. Jason was the better of us. And now that he’s gone, it’s just gotten worse. She said I didn’t deserve to celebrate something he couldn’t have anymore. So I kinda just…believed her.”

If it wasn’t for another Pussycat song being sung onstage, Toni was sure Cheryl could’ve heard her heart break in half. “Cheryl, I had no idea-”

“I know. I just didn’t want to drag you into my mess. It’s not a big deal really.”

Toni pried Cheryl’s hands from their folded position within her crossed arms. She held each within her palms and squeezed softly. “Cheryl, you’re not ‘dragging me into your mess’. Everything. All of this,” Toni swung their arms out in a half loop and pulled Cheryl closer. “is you. You, you, you. I like every part of you. This sassy. The goofy…the messy. There’s not a single part of you that I don’t care about. 

“Like I said before, your mom is a bitch. You are incredibly special and this day only heightens your existence. You made it through another year and it’s a time to look back on all the progress and wonderful memories you’ve made. Jason would want you to have a happy celebration. I just…I just wish my words could fix everything your mom tore up, because you deserve all the goodness and birthday extravaganzas in the world. And cake. You deserve a giant strawberry cake. Even though we’ve basically eaten four of them trying to do our art projects.”

Cheryl let out a tiny watery laugh at that.  
“Listen. How about we forget your mom and have a do-over birthday tomorrow. No stress. No anxiety. No tears,” Toni chastised lightly as she swiped away a runaway streak from beneath Cheryl’s eye. “Just us, your friends, and a little celebration…and maybe I could swing for some alcohol too?”

“I would like nothing more,” Cheryl swooned, lacing her fingers between her girlfriend’s. Toni, even in heels, had to stand on the tips of her toes to softly kiss the ginger’s nose.  
“It’s a date then. A belated birthdate. I’ll make one you’ll never forget.”

“Well, it’ll be the first one so I doubt I’d ever forget it.”

Toni tilted her head like she was deep in thought before the beginnings of a joking grin tickled her lips. “How do you feel about clowns?”

“Well, if you must know, I like my clowns how I like my men.”

“Noted,” Toni giggled, lightly swatting Cheryl’s arm. Somewhere behind them, the crowd was going nuts over someone who had just made their way onstage. Cheryl narrowed her eyes, trying to register the guy who was now strutting around the stage. 

“Is that…?”

“Oh my god. He’s really doing that, huh?”

Sweet Pea, with an oversized black sweatshirt, hood up, was throwing out peace signs with one hand as Fangs stood next to him dropping a sick beatboxing beat. 

“Uh…Sweet Pea in the house…yo…”

Toni leaned against the side of Pop’s next to Cheryl, grinning in amusement. “This should be good.”

“Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe is getting really lit. Order me a burger and a thick banana split. Peaz up in here spitting flames on the grill…All the ladies in here look dressed just to kill,” Sweet Pea spun on his heel and did his best to flash finger guns to the audience. Someone in the crowd booed. Probably someone obviously jealous of his killer rhymes. 

“Nick-named after vegetables, cuz I get kinda green. Especially after accidentally seeing Fangs’ little peen.” 

There was a falter to the beatboxing as Fangs’ face flushed a bit under the accusation. Kevin Keller could vouch that Sweet Pea was throwing out lies. 100%. They’d have to have a little clarification after this haha hmmm. 

“At least I’m not up here sipping e-boy juice, but we all know I am one, so let me let loose.” He took a giant gulp of air and spit the next lyrics rapidly. 

“I think it’s roast time. Let’s hit some killer rhymes. Arrest me Sheriff Keller, there’s about to be a crime.”

Toni shouldered Cheryl, a smirk like the Grinch decorating her face. “I have a feeling the ‘core four’ is about to get charred.”

“Jughead Jones, let’s start with you. What’s under that hat, boy, and please be true. Give me a second, I’ll give it a guess,” he paused for a beat, putting a hand under his chin and pretending to ponder what the hell was under Jug’s beanie. “Perhaps what’s hidden is a giant rat’s nest.”

A collective ‘oooooooooooooooooohhhhh’ exploded from the audience, everyone now staring at the table where Jughead, Betty, Alice, and F.P. were settled. Jughead tugged self-consciously at his beanie, a scowl on his face. 

“Just like Ratatouille, he’s controlling your moves. That’s probably why most of your dancing’s improved. Betty’s next, although with Alice Cooper’s genes, there’s no way in hell she’s the true Serpent queen.”

Now Betty joined in the scowl party, her forehead scrunching up to look like tilled farmland. 

“With only one hairstyle, you look like a clown. And tell me how you’d fit that ponytail under a crown.”

“Now you’re just being mean, Sweets!” Jughead called from the Cooper/Jones table. Oblivious to his comment, Sweet Pea rapped on, ready to scorch his next target. 

“Say, Archie, did you bring your guitar out tonight? Or did you leave it in season one because all you do now is fight? Your eyebrows are thiccer than your ass will ever be. Why don’t you just drop her, dude, she obviously loves Reggie.”

In that moment, it would probably be safe to say that the entire town gasped all at once, sucking every ounce of air from the atmosphere. Toni’s smile faltered as she realized he was going too far.  
“Shit. Fuck. Veronica you’re cool. You know, when you’re not obnoxiously flashing your jewels. Or banging Archie everywhere like a lovesick fool. Like when he was bloody in the shower, girl, that’s just cruel.”

No one was cheering now. This was partly Veronica’s benefit that was going on, so it was pretty unrespectable to bash her at her own cabaret. Next to Toni, Cheryl began to mockingly boo, starting up an entire uproar of what sounded to be revengeful ghosts. 

“But I get it, ya know, we all have our kinks. Even though Betty’s makes me really wanna drink. So cuff me after this and throw me in a cell. Because these raps were so fire they came straight from hell.”  
“Tell them to go back where they came from and get off the stage!” Someone yelled from the ruffled group of Riverdale citizens below. 

“I wish I had a tomato to throw at that dummy,” Toni sighed, shaking her head. “He knows he shouldn’t publicly roast people. That’s only something he can do with us because we’re used to it.”

“You do realize we’re literally right outside of a diner. That serves burgers. With tomatoes on them. Right?” Cheryl quipped, throwing the Serpent a mischievous smile. Toni mirrored her expression and the two slipped into Pop’s vacant restaurant, eager to hunt for the ripened red fruit. And yes, fruit, because technically it is one even though I really want to call it a heckin’ vegetable right about now. SMH.

“You know…” Cheryl drawled as they pawed through the kitchen for the tomatoes, “I don’t think anyone would notice if we slipped downstairs to the Speakeasy for a few minutes. I think I have a birthday wish that could actually come true for once…” She glanced sideways at Toni, her lip caught between her teeth. Toni’s knees went weak.

And suddenly the tomato was long forgotten as the ginger tugged the shorter girl down to the Speakeasy, the room dimly lit and yawning in vacancy. Perfect. 

“So…” Toni breathed, a slight husk to her voice. “What’s your birthday wish?”

Cheryl toyed with the straps of her girlfriend’s dress, running up a bill of goosebumps along Toni’s top half. “Isn’t it…unwise to tell someone what you wish for on your birthday?”

“Why don’t you just show me instead?”

And with that, Cheryl closed the space between them, her lips, almost but not quite, touching Toni’s. She let a warm puff of air ghost the pink-haired girl’s mouth before finally dipping down to snatch them between her own. 

Toni met Cheryl’s stride just a hungrily, her hands roaming all over the smooth cherry curves of the ginger’s dress. She placed a warm hand on Cheryl’s lust-flushed cheeks, her breath hitching when the other girl bit down on her lip. The taller girl pulled back, Toni’s lower lip still caught between her teeth, and let it go with a satisfying release. 

“Is it…almost time…to get this...ahh…stupid…dress off?” Toni asked between nipping kisses. Cheryl answered by simply unzipping the back of the Serpent’s dress. Toni was forever grateful as she stepped out of the black silk, kicking it to the side of the room. She now stood in a black lace bra and matching underwear. It was always nice to match. 

Suddenly Toni was being pushed back onto one of the tables, her arms tangled and pinned above her while Cheryl decorated her neck in blotchy red temporary tattoos. The Serpent let out a breathy puff, eyes closed as she relished in the small nips to her jaw. 

That feeling you get when you eat a pickle and your whole chest swells in warmth because of how sour it is? (I swear I’m not allergic to pickles) Or the feeling after taking your very first shot of alcohol? That’s the way Toni’s chest felt as Cheryl littered the soft spots of her throat with teeny avid kisses. 

The kisses were becoming harder and longer, almost to the point where Cheryl was about to go full vampire to her neck. And this was Riverdale. Not Mystic Falls. So. 

“You sure you want to give me a thick hickey…a thiccey…before we have to go back out there again? Everyone’s gonna know.”

“So let them. They’ll just be jealous,” Cheryl murmured warmly against Toni’s skin. She shivered under the girl’s lips, barely able to get the word ‘hot’ to come out of her mouth. 

After Cheryl had basically proven she was a member of the Salvatore school with her supernatural-like bites, she reclaimed her position of stamping kisses to the pink-haired girl’s begging mouth. With every kiss to her steadily growing swollen lips, Toni drew her fingers higher and higher. When she reached the zipper of Cheryl’s dress, her eyebrows furrowed as her fingers fumbled to pull it down. 

“I think,” Toni whispered, popping apart from Cheryl’s lips, “it’s a little unfair that I’m the only one without a dress here.”

“You’re free to put it back on, Cha Cha,” Cheryl smarted, darting down to nip the corner of her jaw. Toni squirmed under the tickling of her breath before yanking the zipper of the red dress down, down, down. 

Turns out Cheryl also had a thing for coordination because she sported matching red lingerie under her nightly attire. Toni was still always amazed when she saw Cheryl like this. There would never be a time where her breath wouldn’t catch in her throat from the beautiful goddess-like sight. 

“Even though it’s not your birthday, I think I’m about to make one of your wishes come true,” Cheryl sputtered between kisses to the base of the Serpent’s throat. She pressed a heated kiss to a particularly sensitive spot and Toni let out a small whine. The ginger only smirked as she made her way lower and lower…

She dug her fingers beneath the hem of Toni’s underwear and pulled it down slowly, dragging the nails of her manicured hand across the sensitive skin of Toni’s inner thighs. Somewhere above her, the pink-haired girl’s chest rose and fell with intensifying rates.

Without a lick of hesitation (heh pun), Cheryl dove head first into pleasuring her girlfriend. Ayo, looks like she’s goin’ for a swim. 

Toni carded her fingers through the ginger hair below her toned stomach and squirmed beneath the River Vixen’s rough tongue. Cheryl lapped at a brisk speed, sucking her woman’s clit with pursed lips hard enough to earn Toni her first moan. 

Cheryl sat up straight, pushed all her hair to the side, and swooped back down to deliver short hard licks to Toni. “Fuck…ahhh…that feels amazing, Cher,” the Serpent groaned, her face screwing up as the pressure between her thighs steadily grew. Her toes were beginning to curl and tingle as her entire upper body felt like it was dipped in molten lava and thrown into a sauna. On the sun. 

Cheryl spread Toni’s legs farther apart, her face mashed right up against her girlfriend. She hummed dangerously low causing Toni to jerk beneath her. Soon her tongue was swirling at the same rate the pink-haired girl’s mind was. They had almost reached that equilibrium that would send Toni barreling over the edge. 

When that moment came, as well as Toni (heh), Cheryl placed a hand over her girlfriend’s mouth, softening the low elongated moan born exclusively to a Blossom induced orgasm. The ginger slowed her pace, catching Toni as she fell further, allowing her to ride out to euphoria for a couple seconds longer. 

Toni was literally a panting, sweaty mess, but pushed herself up from the table, eager to give Cheryl her turn for a birthday wish. She tugged Cheryl’s mouth back to hers, wrapping her hands around her neck and digging her nails softly into the ginger’s flesh. That is, until they slithered down the length of her back before hitting a snag in the road. Working swiftly, Toni was able to unclasp the red lace in a single try, her mouth now moving in a breathy trail down Cheryl’s chest. 

With a one pop, two pop, red pop, blue pop, Toni sucked blotchy patches across Cheryl’s breasts, capturing her nipples between her lips every now and then. Cheryl threw her head back as the shorter girl sucked a few premature hickies across the softest skin in the universe. 

Cheryl felt that cool splash of excitement within her chest and brought Toni’s face right back up to her so that she could glue her mouth back to her girlfriend’s, nibbling a bit on the Serpent’s bottom lip. And those nibbles turned to lowkey bites as soon as Toni stuck a finger (or two) down Cheryl’s underwear. 

She wasn’t gonna lie, the slight pain from Cheryl’s bites was actually turning her on quite a bit. Especially since Cheryl was the one who was inducing it. She even captured a few groans and moans here and there that traveled from the ginger’s throat to her own. 

Fingers slick, she was able to pound rhythmically enough get her girlfriend bucking around like some wild animal. But I mean, come on. Cheryl truly was a wild animal in bed. Or on top of a Speakeasy table in this case. 

With her cherry red swollen mouth now hanging open in a silent gasp, Cheryl closed her eyes tightly and let Toni be the magician once again, working her magic fingers to her core. For added effect, Toni nibbled a few more bites across Cheryl’s jawline before biting softly to her neck, giving her her own matching temporary tattoo to Toni’s. Look at them. Matching gang girlfriends with their cute little tattoos and shit. So cute. Goals!

“Oh…fuck! Right there, TT.”

Toni stickered a few more kisses to her girlfriend’s cheek, pumping steadily, before moving to whisper in her ear. “Happy birthday, Cheryl,” she breathed the moment the ginger came around her fingers. She slowed her pace, sprinkling in a few more face kisses before Cheryl was able to speak again. The ginger pushed her sweaty hair from her face, a weak smile dancing over her flushed face. 

“Best birthday ever. However, I am enticed to see what you have planned for tomorrow’s events.”

Toni leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to her forehead. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!! SORRY I'M COMPLETE GARBAGE AT WRITING SMUT LMAO. I just like the softer parts because they're super sweet :,) ALSO I've had the idea of having Choni fuck in the Speakeasy for a while now and when they did in last week's Riverdale episode I was SO SHOOK OVER IT I HAD TO GO FINISH THIS CHAPTER. Everybody thank Madelaine and Vanessa for that ksksksks. Alright goobers...til next time....

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are appreciated!!  
> twitter: neptuneclarke


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